Northstar Vale long enough

It'd been a long time since he'd last seen Amber and Grayday. Though he still wasn't sure how he felt about the situation, he was happier now. All that heartache had been before Duskvale, before meeting up with Lotte once more. It'd been a different lifetime, as far as Dag was concerned.

He was happy, now.

But something still called to him. He still wondered about those kids and worried about Amber, and he still thought of Grayday sometimes, too. The kids would have been born by now, surely. Were they wondering where he was, or had they moved on, content with their own happy little family.

Dag wanted to find out, but he would not do so without talking to Saena first. He respected the woman a great deal, and though this was also true of Warbone, he did not bear the same deep, abiding love for the first male as he did for the first female.

"@Saena?" Dag said softly as he approached the pale shewolf, glad that he'd caught her in relative solitude for once. The pack was nearby - in sight, in fact - but they would surely be able to see that this was a private conversation.

I hope you have time!

There was a bitter chill to the wind as it howled through the vale. Saena's coat was thick, but even she felt the bite of winter's breath. Her snout was slung snugly over her forelegs while her hind legs were curled in under her, every paw turned so that her pads were tucked away. The pack was resting for now, and she watched the mountain tops with frigid blue eyes, contemplative.

That is, until Dagfinn's soft voice roused her from her daydreaming. Saena lifted her head, gave her nape a gentle shake, and turned her gaze on the black bard. Her eyes fell first to the roughly star-shaped patch of white on his chest, and then rose to his enchantingly blue eyes. She favoured him with a smile. He was proving himself well as a member of Duskvale, and she was proud to call him second.

"What can I do for you, Dagfinn?" she asked, sensing that he was seeking her out for some specific reason. Maybe a hunt. She slowly unfurled her joints and found her way to her feet, prepared to join him if that was the case.

At once, Dag began to feel a little silly. You don't need to get up, he wanted to say, but it seemed too late to correct her assumptions. He'd never approached her for something like this before - of course she wouldn't expect that he just wanted to talk.

But, suddenly, walking didn't seem like such a bad idea, either. It gave him something to do with his paws, which suddenly seemed far to big and clunky to keep in one place.

"I'm thinking about going to visit some friends," he replied, ears flattening slightly as the words came out of his mouth. They weren't his friends.

Saena read Dagfinn's body language long before she heard his words, so that when he spoke, her face was already creasing with concern. It was concern for him, naturally, rather than his task. Sheepishness was unusual for Dagfinn, who was usually so sprightly and full of energy. A low whine built in her throat, but dissipated when she caught his meaning. "Oh?"

A walk was probably for the best, if only to give Saena time to compile her thoughts. The lead bitch knew her stance on the matter, but Warbone had shown her another way of thinking, and she knew how he might feel, as well. Beckoning for Dagfinn to accompany her, the first female began to tread along a worn path in the snow, head angled downward as she let her thoughts brew. At length, she spoke.

"I don't have a problem with it," she assured the second male, "but you should know that Warbone doesn't like it when he doesn't know where his wolves are." Pursing her lips, she lifted her feet and plodded along a little faster, urging privacy. "But I don't mind if you go, provided you come right back when you're done, and let us know when you return. Warbone will have to understand, some wolves have reasons to take some time away." She understood that.

She glanced back to him, blue eyes likely showing her own feelings—that she wishes she was free to go wandering, if only to search for Laurel—and asked, "how long do you think you'll be gone?"

Relief broke through his anxiety as Saena expressed her thoughts on the topic.

"It's not far," Dagfinn was quick to assure; "their pack is just southeast of us, I think. Down the mountain and a day or two away." He'd taken a roundabout path to the Vale, so he wasn't exactly sure how long it would take to find Easthollow once more. Surely, though, a few days would be more than enough to make it to the pack. He'd visit for a day or two and then take his leave.

"A week, maybe less," he said in response to her question, realizing that he was now actually planning to go. He'd come into the conversation looking for a second opinion, seeking guidance and advice - but he wanted to go. He wanted to see Amber and the pups and even Grayday, to some extent. Dag peers at the first female, feeling a rush of gratitude for her support. "Do you have people you miss, Saena?" he asked, knowing already that she must. No wolf came into the world on their own, and somewhere along the line, there must've been another pack, another family, another something to love Saena that way that Duskvale loved her.

Huh. Saena couldn't remember any packs in that area since the departure of Jade Fern Grove, but she'd been removed from Phoenix Maplewood for some time now, and her memory was unreliable on the best of days. No doubt a wolf pack had formed in the time she'd been away from the taiga, and Dagfinn had a connection with them. It was useful to know, but ultimately had no bearing on Duskvale beyond the likelihood that Dagfinn would be making occasional trips away.

But her opinion on the matter held. She didn't mind so long as he came back and checked in with them.

"That works fine for me," she told him with a resolute nod. He could leave whenever he was ready with her blessing. She expected the conversation to end with that, and even faltered in her step as though to turn back in preparation for it, but Dagfinn instead asked a question, and she stuttered forward a step, regaining their easy walking pace with a fumble.

"Sure," she said, but her tone wasn't too sad. "I have a daughter out there, and other family, but they're all far away or have chosen another path. I do miss them, though." Most of all, besides Laurel, she missed Casmir. She wished the Mayfair had come away with her in the beginning and created something new here, but she felt secure in the knowledge that he had promised to take over Silver Creek for her.

Dagfinn's ears pricked and then flattened in thought as he mulled over her response, allowing her to go on her way, if she would. There was not much that he could say in response - he knew how life could be in these things. His own family was far behind him, Lotte being all that he had left in these lands. His love, too, seemed to have abandoned him, though it could be argued that he had abandoned her.

Perhaps it would be better to let these things go, as Saena had, but when he looked at her, now... He wasn't sure he wanted to be just like the first female. Wasn't sure he could.

Having decided on a course of action, Dag left the pale woman and went in search of Warbone.

Dagfinn didn't reply, but went on his way instead. Saena's red ears pressed down as she watched him go, confused about what she'd said to offend him—for she assumed she had offended him—but then she decided it didn't matter. She was still his lead bitch, and she'd given him leave to go visit his family, so if he had some kind of beef with her method of dealing with things, at least she wasn't hindering him from doing what he wanted.

With a soft snort to comfort herself, she dropped back to the snow and resumed her lounging about.