Swiftcurrent Creek so long ago

@Constantine  @Durnehviir - hoping for a quick thread. Will exit after a few days if no reply. likewise, if I fall behind on replies to this, feel free to exit. Grezig is not trespassing, but standing at the border.

Grezig had made it to the borders of the nearest pack. On passing by Sunspire, the scents had seemed faded. Perhaps they had moved? Besides that, Grezig had not wanted to ask them any questions. She did not care that they had made alliances with Sunspire. Their meeting at the vale all those months ago had left a bad taste in her mouth and she’d just as soon avoid them at all costs. So, she had traveled for a few days farther and had come upon a pack at this creek. She had some vague memory of hearing about a pack here once, but that had been before the Plateau had formed and she remembered almost nothing of any meetings with others at that time.

She tilted her head back and called for the leaders of the pack, hoping they could tell her something—anything—about Illidan’s family.

He and Durnehviir had yet to talk since his return. The swarthy wolf held companionship mostly with his son, Akavir, who hadn't quite grasped the full extent of what was going on, but held true to sharing his time between his parents, remaining silent in the matter.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on the alpha male. Not physically, but mentally. His family was broken, and he wasn't sure how to fit the pieces back together, only that he knew that was what he wanted to do. If he waited much longer, he knew they would never fit together again... And yet the ferocity and anger from his mate had kept him from her for now. He needed time to think.

The call at the borders was a welcome distraction and so the Mayfair made his way to the voice. From a distance, he mistook the bulkier form for male-- sturdy, respectful on the borders. As he neared, he could see the curves only a she-wolf could grace with such ease, and he gave a solemn nod to their visitor, stopping a respectful distance away as his tail swayed idly in the air. "Hello," he greeted, muzzle tilting slightly. "How can I help you?"

Grezig dipped her head in a half-bow—both a greeting and a sign of respect. She could only assume that the male before her was an alpha, and did not waste time trying to make sure. “Greetings,” she said, and then cut right to the chase. “My name is Grezig. I come from the Blacktail Deer Plateau pack, a few days west of here.” She pointed her muzzle in the direction of the Plateau. 

“We’re caring for an orphaned boy named Illidan, whom we found traveling alone three or four months ago now. He is quiet about his past but I promised him that when our pack was settled I would look for his family. I…” Grezig sighed. “I do not have much to go on. Something traumatic happened and he will not tell me anything of his father, but I have descriptions of his mother and one of his brothers. His mother looks like him—a halfbreed, coyote and wolf, dark head, white body. His brother’s name is Ephraim. Sandy-colored. If they passed in this direction, it would have been months ago now, in early summer, maybe, although I’m not exactly sure.” That was all Grezig could think to say, so she stopped babbling and waited.

The she-wolf wasted no time in stating her purpose, much to the dark wolf's relief. He wasn't keen on idle chit chat these days... not when the creek pack felt as if it was slowly falling apart because the alpha pair couldn't get along.

His bright eyes blinked, his muzzle tilting with interest at the mention that she came from the plateau pack. "There's a pack in Blacktail Deer Plateau? That was where I was born." He wasn't sure how he felt about it being claimed by strangers, but he wasn't going to dwell on it then. Instead, he would simply pay them a visit at another time.

As she mentioned a pup and his missing family, the Alpha have a light shake of his muzzle. "No, sorry. There hasn't been anyone here meeting that description." 

They had looked after a ragtag cub earlier in the year, but the boy had been dark. "We looked after a darker wolf pup earlier in the year when his health was failing. He's since left." Pausing, he studied his visitor thoughtfully. "He was a coywolf, though."

Grezig’s eyebrows almost imperceptibly twitched downward in interest at the male’s first comment. He’d grown up in Blacktail Deer Plateau? Interesting. Clearly it had been a pack territory long before she and the others had settled in there. But that was not important now. Grezig did not have time to ask questions about that. She had to find Illidan’s family, and from the sound of it, this male had no information that she wanted. There was no point in following up about a coywolf pup if there was no way to confirm that he and Illidan were related. She would simply keep heading east for now, since the only packs she knew of were east. Then again…

“Thank you anyways,” she said. “Before I go, can I ask if you know of any other packs farther west than the Plateau? Or to the north or south, for that matter. I know of ones farther east, but only two, and that is all. I’d like to know of more in case the ones to the east have no further information for me.”

The male, however, had no more information for her, whether he simply didn't know or whether he chose to withhold it. She snorted and left without another word.

[Exit.]