Northstar Vale i don't get a suit of armor

just inside the yellow zone from the map udated 12/4 (:

All common sense aside, Banner found her curiosity regarding Duskvale too great to ignore.  She'd left the comfort of Marauder's Keep at an ungoldy hour earlier that morning and after heading South as far as she could go on flat land, she carefully navigated a portion of the mountains just north of the Sunspire to find herself well within the territory of Northstar Vale.  The Alpha coudn't recall ever spending time in this area before now, a fact which brought her little comfort.

It was strange the way the scent of Warbone's pack shifted as she moved along.  When she first descended from the mountain range there had been very little to indicate a pack even lived there.  Wolves were in this area, obviously, but it had been suspiciously absent of scent markings.  Somewhat reclucantly, Banner moved on and eventually came across an area that smelled much more strongly of a pack, though the scent was.. old?  Stale?  She couldn't decide.  The short Marauder didn't feel comfortable pressing any farther south and thus had paused to investigate the area.

Still.. she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.  Banner sniffed about as dusk fell over the territory.  Her ears were perked forward, open for any and all sound, but her tail was held low.  This was not her beloved home among the willow trees and she didn't want to give off the impression that she was too complacent in Northstar Vale.  Just because she hadn't found the territory Warbone's pack currently resided in didn't mean she should throw all caution to the wind.

Saena's not supposed to wander but whoops, didn't want your thread overlooked. <3

"I'm just going to head back the way we came for a few, make sure we didn't leave anything behind," Saena called over a slim shoulder, no doubt to Warbone's vexation as she headed away from the pack, "I won't go any further, I swear." The lead bitch was feeling peppy now that her wounds were healed enough for her to walk at a decent speed again, and even her partner's loudest protests were unlikely to keep her from wandering back. Her word was good, though. Saena's desire to step outside the valley was all but gone now that the snow was here, and the guilt of what happened last time remained a constant on her mind. Warbone need not worry that she would leave and shame him again. She was good right where she was.

But she was, by blood, a DeMonte, and the wanderlust that went back many generations was difficult to shake. She had to walk, so she did. The pack fell away behind her, and once she was away from them, she dropped her stance to one that was more cautious and defensive. She could summon them with a bugle, but she felt strangely naked without them prowling at her sides. Her nose grazed the ground as she padded gingerly over the light snow, ever cognizant of her surroundings, and especially alert in her solitude. That paid off, for Saena, a creature intimately familiar with the valley and conditioned to notice anything out of place, spotted Banner first.

She lifted her head and brought her paws together beneath her breast, standing at attention about fifty yards away. The pale bitch couldn't make out many details about the other, especially with darkness following, but she raised her voice loud enough to call an accusatory, "hey!" across the distance. Duskvale was a wolf pack, even if it was rather unlike other wolf packs, and Saena still felt pretty prickly about any who got too close to where the pack was bedding down for the evening.

xD *scrambles about* I originally wrote all dis crapp-o, then I saw Saena join... so everything about her is just kinda tacked on lmao DON'T JUDGE ME

Warbone watched Saena go, and after a moment when Tryphon started to follow, he found himself intercepting the wolf and telling him that he would go instead. He didn't believe that she would leave the territory, but it occurred to him that he could be alone with her... maybe finally get along to telling her his real name, which he had been intending to do for some time now.

His eye was on The Sunspire, and his mind suddenly on a wolf that he should care nothing for. He was eager to rid himself of such clinging sentiments, anything that might distract him from his family; he left the valers behind so that he might explore these feelings, and hopefully excise himself of everything that plagued him from thinking solely of Duskvale. If he expected Saena to forget her past, then certainly he ought to stop being such a hypocrite. He would talk to her about it, when they crossed paths.

Imagine his surprise then -- when his mind had been so far away -- when the scent of the Keep touched him as surely as if he were nearing it. The scarred wolf blinked, reality settling on him heavily as he realized he was no where near there, and therefore shouldn't be sensing it. He thought his mind was playing with him, when the wind rose up once more and gave him a more definitive trace than before. Warbone's pace quickened, placing the scent before he saw her: the nameless woman of the Marauders.

He noticed Saena then, as she called out in mild accusation, and Warbone approached her slowly from behind, his tail lifted and waving in a non-threatening fashion as he closed the distance between them. He didn't seem thrilled, but there was interest clear in his expression, and something like amusement as he recalled the time he had met the wolf a small distance from them. It didn't matter to him that he didn't know the stocky, burnished she-wolf by  name, because he would greet her all the same, with his ears up and his body alert. "I know her," he chuffed, coming to stand at his partner's side (surely to her surprise), before he set forward to close the distance between himself and Banner.

"What brings you here?" he asked, for she had covered quite a lot of ground to be here, in the bowl of his home furthest from her own. He stopped several yards back, unwilling to crowd her even if it was his space to crowd as he pleased. He had no qualms with the Keep -- besides the threat on their alpha he had never sought to follow up on -- and if he had known they might think the two packs were potential competition for one another in the slightest, he would have laughed. There was far too much space and too many territories in either direction for the two packs to ever compete for anything, and it only heightened his curiosity for her presence here.

lel @ everything

An accusatory greeting - well, greeting was a stretch - reached her across the chilly vale and Banner instantly froze.  Still very cognizant of her location, she pinned her ears back against her skull and slowly lifted her head from whatever it was she'd been sniffing.  She expected just one wolf but her bright green eyes took in two: a small, slender female and and one-eye Warbone.  Perfect.

The lady Marauder didn't quite feel as though she should move from her spot.  The scent markings of Duskvale were frankly a little confusing to her and she didn't want to accidentally step somehwere she wasn't welcome.. though the vibe she felt now was just the opposite.  Made sense, actually.  She drew in a quiet breath and expelled it slowly to calm herself before first nodding politely to the female at Warbone's side.  Banner didn't have a name to greet her with, so she hoped that would be sufficient for now.  Warbone, she greeted evenly nodding her head once more for good measure.

As for what she was doing there..?  The dark brown female tilted her head to the side and flicked her tail just once.  I heard the news - congratulations are in order, she responded in her low voice, the sentiment extended to both wolves.  By the way the female carried herself, Banner assumed she was a leader of Duskvale alonside Warbone.

If it was up to Saena, Banner would be on the ground. The petite young bitch even began to step forward with the intent to roll her, but she was stopped by Warbone's gravelly tone behind her shoulder. She jumped. Of all the wolves she expected to follow her, Warbone was the last. She didn't know of his own wayward thoughts, so she assumed he would forever remain where the pack was and never wander further. He proved her wrong, much to her surprise, but her lips curled into a light smile at his presence.

With a grumble that well betrayed how she felt about Banner's lack of passive deference, Saena dropped her head and shoulders and let Warbone take the lead. She fell into step a few paws behind him, and halted where her cheek was in line with his shoulder. Even as Warbone spoke to the dark ruddy female, Saena hovered close to his side, a constant specter to remind Banner that she was at a disadvantage.

Saena wanted to ask, when Banner spoke, how she'd heard any such thing about Duskvale, but the answer came in the form of a light breeze. It toyed through the larger brown-haired woman's coat and then swept past Saena's nose, bringing with it the sweet scent of willows and the wolves who lived there. She flared her nostrils to take them in, and among them she sensed a pale grey juvenile, whom she'd met so recently that his aroma was still fresh in her mind.

"How is Tambourine?" she asked softly, feeling her stance shift to something a little more relaxed. For all the reasons Saena had to despise Tambourine for being the product of her ex-mate's adultery, she found the kid undeniably likable.

*sneaky sneaky*

He hadn't intended to leave the Keep again anytime soon, just as he'd told Stark. But when he saw Banner heading out in the wee hours of the morning, unaccompanied, the Xi couldn't help himself. He pushed himself onto all fours and loped after her. Originally, he intended to catch up with her and join her. But then it became something of a game to him, stalking her through the woods, then into the territories beyond them. Silas and Freyja had taught him a thing or two about tracking prey and this really was no different. It was good practice too.

Somewhere in the mountains, he lost her for a few minutes, really putting his skills to the test. By the time he spotted her again, Tambourine found she was not alone. The youth's eyes widened when he recognized both Warbone and Saena. Coincidentally, he arrived just in time to hear the latter's question. Although he shot her partner a mistrustful glance, Tambourine shuffled toward the group, head and tail hanging low mostly out of deference to his own Alpha but also because he was aware of the faint scent markers surrounding this area.

"I'm good!" he said amiably to Saena, peeking up through his lashes at her and offering both a smile and a wag of his tail. "How 'bout you?" While he awaited an answer, he quickly spoke to Banner out of the corner of his mouth, "I followed you here." He glanced sideways to gauge her expression, wondering if she'd be mad that he'd sneaked after her like this or happy for the company on their neighbors' doorstep.

Warbone's expression evolved as Banner expressed her congratulations— which was far more diplomatic than the cyclops deserved from the Marauder's— and he found himself smiling despite his natural stoicism. He angled his head to give Saena an affectionate nudge, showing both women just who he had to thank for his upheaval from total insanity. Facing the chocolate visitor again, he realized that he wanted to know how she'd come into her information, how she had known of their success, but even as he canted his head at her, Saena seemed to take credit for the action; asking how the first-born Marauder was.

Before anyone could speak further, the mentioned himself appeared, shooting Warbone a look he didn't immediately appreciate. It resulted in the gentle slowing of his racing tail, but the limb's pace returned when he set his eye back onto Banner, who he was genuinely pleased to see despite everything. Her genial appearance here meant not all had been lost in his heedless declaration against their alpha.

"We appreciate you coming here," he rumbled in a tone to match, his body leaning very marginally against his pied companion. It was impossible to tell, given his blithely animated show, but Warbone was facing his greatest weakness now— the Keep and its wolves— and he felt severely grateful to have Saena here, given how at odds he felt in that moment. He lost all inner conviction in the face of his own failures, and had he known such a feeling before, he wouldn't have blamed his own partner so much for getting into that fight as she had.

"If you will... I would like you to extend my apologies to Stark for the day I threatened him. It came out of misplaced rage and grief, carrying no weight behind them but an inability to cope with my own losses." Warbone highly doubted that his would-be opponent still cared, since they had not met since that day and he had obviously not sought to make good on his word, but he figured the words needed to be said anyway. "I might have returned there to say as such myself, but I know I am not welcome, and I prefer to keep my hide in all the pieces I have left," he chuckle-snorted.

Tambourine's voice, young and strong, elicited a startled look from Banner.  Her head turned sharply to the side and she fixed him with what was likely a stern gaze.  However, it was unintentional, and her dark brown features quickly softened to include a small smile.  Clearly Banner had not been paying attention during her journey to the vale, though that non-revelation certainly didn't shock her.  Buchanan was unlikely to be impressed when he heard about it.

Ah, but her lack of awareness was also unlikely to be his top billed issue with her field trip today.

Tambo, she greeted quietly, one brow raising.  The urge to chide him crossed her mind but was gone a second later.  He was a few months from his place in the adult ranks and despite the near compulsion she had to protect him from whatever unknown situation this may become, Banner simply sidestepped to close the gap between herself and the taller Marauder.  With the added warmth of his grayscale body, she felt a tiny bit more comfortable.

When Warbone spoke again, he had her attention.  And he.. apologized.  Banner had the good grace to offer him the smallest of smiles.  She knew little of the wolf who had founded Marauder's Keep, but their last meeting gave her the impression that he was not the type of man to readily apologize.  Then again, she wouldn't know if the opposite were actually true.  If nothing else, at least the one-eyed male found a bit of humor in the situation.  I don't make it a habit to speak for my brother, she began in her low voice.  But he was not the only Alpha you threatened.  However, I.. she paused for a moment to chance another look at Tambourine.  This was something that needed to be done.  Preferably with as little awkwardness as possible, though she may have been stretching that a bit.  Turning back to Warbone and Saena, she continued: I accept your apology.  And thank you for it. 

She remembered then that they'd never been introduced - not by name, rank, or her relation to Stark.  So, awkward being a large part of her, she tacked on: .. my name is Banner.  Her bright green eyes widened a bit with embarassment and landed on the slender Saena for no reason other than she needed somehwere to look.

Secretly, Saena felt quite differently from Warbone, but she was still trying to come to terms with her new lifestyle, after all. It was difficult to separate her past tendencies from her instincts now. Sometimes, it all just got muddled up in her head until she couldn't decide whether she was feeling hostile or playful toward intruding wolves. But Warbone handled the situation appropriately, and though she didn't understand the man's camaraderie with Banner, she accepted it when he nudged her. At least he seemed to approve of her being here.

Her attention shifted away from Banner and landed on the long-legged youth from the mountains. She grinned in return, genuinely more relaxed with Tambourine around, even though it meant that the odds were more even. She needed to think less about everything being a conflict, though, and gave her head a light shake to dislodge her suspicion and anxiety alike. "I'm well, too. Good to see you," she told him, before Warbone's rumbling tone pulled her attention back.

What she heard was unexpected on several counts. Warbone apologizing was boggling enough, but even moreso was the vague implication that he'd threatened Stark on at least one occasion. Given that she knew Warbone far better than she did Stark, this information did little to change her opinion on either man, but her curiosity welled up like the tide in her chest. She made a mental note to ask about it later, and lightly pressed her shoulder to her partner's flank. There seemed little to say on her part to the Marauders—they seemed to have history with Warbone, while apart from Tambourine, Saena knew precious little about them—but she was polite enough to say, "Saena," in return when the darker of the pair introduced themselves.

When Banner's response was to sidestep closer, Tambourine ducked his head to bump his snout beneath her chin before he returned his attention forward, to the pair of Duskvale wolves. Saena responded that she was well and he grinned at her when she expressed gladness to see him. That caused the queerest sensation in his stomach, as if he had accidentally swallowed a bird whole and it was now fluttering around in there. The boy glanced down as if expecting to see his belly moving but of course there was nothing out of the ordinary going on with his midsection.

He raised his gaze again and it immediately fixed on Saena, though it flicked sideways when Warbone spoke, offering an apology. Tambourine forgot all about the peculiar feeling in his gut. He stared openly at a spot somewhere between the other male's chest and legs, processing his words. Before he could decide what to make of them, Banner responded, accepting the proffered apology. Although the youth squinted momentarily, his expression soon cleared. This was a good thing for the relationship between the packs. Tambourine could certainly forgive, though it was unlikely he would ever forget the way Warbone had spoken to Stark.

A few formal introductions were exchanged and Tambourine could only add a bright and hopeful, "We're all friends now, right?"