Northstar Vale -- wretched, wretched leviathan

@Rannoch !

The wolven embodiement of fury lumbered his way into the Teekons.  

A rage kindled inside of him — a bonfire engorged at the sight of his littlest sister's body, willowy and lifeless and broken there upon the shore.  For a moment he had thought (and perhaps even hoped) that it was Brienne laying on the sand but this thought came simply out of that brooding anger he had for her. Because this, whatever it was, was her fault entirely.

That anger would have to be dealt with later though as he had to find his middle sister before anything could be dealt with, before the wretch could be confronted.  Mattias searched, staying along the coastline until he caught the scent of his precious Brienne, following it far into the woods.  He worried for her; the scent of blood intermingled with her scent but as it seemed his sister had traveled the scent wavered and eventually died off, leaving just the girl's crisp scent for him to follow.

Days passed and he arrived at the border of a pack where her scent was the strongest; it seemed to the titan that she had been marking these borders.  The fury welled up inside him again — how dare she abandon her family?  How dare she appoint herself a new pack, a new life without so much as casting a glance back at those who loved her!  Urgently, he issued a howl and the wretch better pray that it was not she who answered his call.

The Vale was growing with every passing day. There had been a steady stream of new faces join their ranks and Rannoch had been pleased to see the sudden interest stem from the world beyond the Vale. As had been the status quo as of late, Rannoch's presence was requested at the border, and he happily obliged. "I'll be right there," he assured the leviathan as he threw up a call of his own. 

Rannoch was blissfully unaware of the preface of Mattias' arrival, but, when he came across the other hulking wolf, Rannoch could sense that something was off. "Hello, I'm Rannoch Frostfur, Alpha of this Vale," he introduced once he was before the other. "How can I help you?" 

Months of living with the vale wolves had helped the child to mature, although the majority of that maturation was only physical in nature. He was bigger now; he was stronger, faster too. The seed of thought that had been planted (to be a warrior) had taken root and now flourished within him, changing him. Titmouse had been so busy with his efforts that he failed to notice when his cousin mentioned wanting to depart for the Caldera - but even if he had been aware of it, it was unlikely he would have thought to follow her.

After their last spat, he had withdrawn from her company unless absolutely necessary. Titmouse was too stubborn to see Liffey's side of things, and the tiny quarrel, the insult she had served to him as he had tried to protect her, fueled a detachment.

So, he was stubborn, and he was ignorant. But he was fully aware of the quality of the borders, for he traced a route upon them every day and every night - racing across those paths in order to strengthen himself. When a presence arrived upon the borderlands, he was there. This time, so was Rannoch - so Titmouse slipped in to place behind him, curious of the newcomer, but doing his best to look imposing and powerful at the same time.

Seeing as he was still clumsy and awkward as heck, his skidding halt behind Rannoch was far from smooth. He glanced sheepishly at his leader, but then turned his eyes upon the stranger while Rannoch spoke, and it was there that his attention lingered.

The leviathan shifted his weight from one paw to another, tail wagging softly against his hocks. Mattias Kersey.  He gave this 'Rannoch' a dip of his head and as he moved his nose down he caught a whiff of her scent on him — faintly — as bile rose to this throat that was difficult to bite back down.

Another wolf came barrelling towards them and fiery eyes flicked upwards berifly towards the stranger before returning them to the Alpha, apparently unconcerned with the boy's presence.  Mattias intended no harm here, especially not for those who had given his sister refuge. Brienne, he breathed, and as he realized what he had said he looked almost sheepishly at them. My sister is here.  I can smell her.

It comes to him then that if she had abandoned her family so easily, she probably wouldn't be going by that name anymore. Small.  Blonde.  It would have done Mattias good to not be so curt towards these strangers but it was easy to surmise from his demeanor that the bluntness of his words was not intended as rude, but instead just how the man was.

I need to see her.

Mattias Kersey. There was something strong about these two names together, something that only added to the power that the other exuded. 

As Titmouse arrived on the scene, Rannoch turned towards the Vale's youngest member. It had been long since the Alpha had seen the Omicron, as crossing paths with the yellow-eyed boy had been rare, and Rannoch was surprised how much he had grown since they had last talked. A fine young man had blossomed before their very eyes, growing out of the lankiness of his adolescence into a wolf that much more resembled an adult than a child. Despite his amazement, Rannoch's attention did not settle on Titmouse for long. 

Instead, he turned quickly back to the stranger as a name was spoken and for a moment, Rannoch shot Mattias with a look of confusion. "None of my members have the name Brianne," he replied. But as Mattias elaborated, his description seemed to describe somebody that Rannoch had grown quite fond of: Seabreeze. "Though, we have someone here who goes by Seabreeze and fits your description." He had no reason not to trust this stranger, but, Rannoch wanted to be careful and protect his family. "Titmouse and I can call for her, explaining what's going on," he offered, sparing a glance to the aspiring guardian that flanked him. "And we will see if she comes or not.".

The stranger was asking about someone, and while the name didn't make a dent in Titmouse's memory, he could've just as easily missed out on one of the members. Things were constantly changing and he, being a recluse for the past while, did not know who was considered part of the brat pack and who was not. Rannoch cleared the air quickly - and Tit wondered if they were going to run this stranger off the land, which would be so much fun! But he didn't. Rather than do that, Rannoch offered him someone else - a stranger named Seabreeze that Tit had yet to meet, or if he had met them he had already forgotten - and the boy was silent, waiting to see what would happen.

The goliath shifted his weight, splaying his toes to grip the ground underneath them, breathing sharply out of his teeth.  The only thing he could offer the Alpha was a single dip of his head, a wordless go ahead, because while half of him hoped his sister was alive and fed, the other half hated her for ripping their family apart.

It wasn't Brienne's fault that Momma was dead, but it was her fault that she ran away, it was her fault that Keet followed and died, and it was her fault that he was here, now, searching for her.

He let out a deep, whining sigh as his tail brushed up against his hocks in anticipation.

TIME TRAVELS AND SKIPS EVERYTHING.

After some time, and much clarification, Rannoch was able to accept Mattias into his ranks. With some trust bestowed upon the new wolf, Rannoch dipped his head in the direction of the other wolf and smiled. "Welcome, Mattias," he greeted before turning to Titmouse temporarily to praise him, "And good work with your support, Titmouse." The younger wolf was quickly shaping to be quite the guardian and Rannoch was pleased to be able to track his progress. 

With what needed to be said voiced, Rannoch turned back to the recruit. "Please don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything at all," he added. Without anything else to provide, Rannoch turned to make his departure from the conversation.