Lost Creek Hollow Do we continue?

@Terance

Valette let @Steph know she went to Lost Creek Hollow. They were on the other side of the plains so it would not be that she was gone for long. She wanted to check with the new leadership of Lost Creek Hollow if they were still interested in an alliance. She felt like they did, then again, she made that commitment with Rannoch. She heard that the male was not the leader anymore. The dark-colored female crossed the plains.

As she trotted through the open fields, she noticed that the herd of bison was looking at her suspiciously. She kept her cool and trotted on. They recently took one of their herd members and always the following days the animals were more alert when it came to seeing a wolf. Valette wasn't going to bother them this time. She continued on until she saw the fringes of the hollow. Perhaps the name Easthollow was more fitting for Lost Creek Hollow than for them, but now Valette was so used to the name she would not change it for the world.

Once she came close the howled for the new leader. She had met their new Beta but she was mostly interested in the new leader. Just to see what he was like. She was certain that if Rannoch approved of him, this male should be alright. She believed he was named Terance, but she wasn't entirely sure. She decided that he would find out soon enough.

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terance was not a new leader, but information was twisted when it did not come from the source, so whatever valette had thought prior to this was not something that terance could hold against her. miscommunication happened easily on it's own.

he was called for, and so he came to the boarder with his ears pushed forwards and his green gaze trained ahead. he did not know who this was-- but based on the descriptions he'd received in the past, and the scent she carried on her, terance could only make one assumption on who it was.

"valette," he said with a dip of his head, his tail waving slowly, "it's a pleasure to finally meet you, i've heard good things." and he truly had. he watched the woman curiously, eyes studying her expression calmly.

The things Valette assumed seemed to be wrong. As she sniffed the borders, the scent of Rannoch still seemed to be strong? It confused the female, luckily soon someone came to her aid. The female lifted her head and offered the one that was approaching a quick smile. She was surprised that the male knew her name. She didn't want to assume who this was. "Hello," she greeted. "I didn't know I had such a reputation," she spoke with a smile, only jokes of course as the male confirmed that it was good things he heard about her.

"Now I feel guilty for not being entirely sure who you are," she admitted to the male. She was an honest woman. She came here after all for a clarification. At least the female was glad that she was well received. "A male of your pack came to us recently, Rueger. He spoke about leadership stepping down. I just came to introduce myself to the possible new leaders and to check if we would maintain the alliance," she explained why she was here. She was willing to continue their good relationship as she didn't feel the need to fight over territory.

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concern laced terance's feature's as valette began to speak. his brow furrowed, a frown pressing to his lips. rannoch? stepping down? it was eery, in a way, terance felt the statement was foreboding. but he couldn't quite figure out why. rannoch was in great health, he'd seen him the day before. 

"for starters," terance began anyway, entertaining the comment she made about not knowing him-- trying to reassure her that it was not a problem-- "my name is terance. i've been rannoch's beta since the day we founded this pack." easy history lesson, probably useful to know. a small smile pressed to his lips as he finished-- the memory was bittersweet, but terance looked back on it fondly.

"i'm not sure why rueger would say that," he then admitted with a gentle cant of his head, "my sister, wraen, stepped down as our beta. another she-wolf, treason, has stepped up to fill that position. maybe that's what he meant?" that could've been an easy mistake to make-- terance supposed. with a dip of his head, terance added, "even so, i would uphold the alliance with easthollow, should that ever happen." easily. easthollow had proven to be one of the most reasonable group of wolves he'd ever met. 

save for aerasha, who might've had a few screws loose.

Valette watched the reaction of the male as he frowned. The first thing that came to mind was that Rueger might have given her the wrong information. But she could also have assumed wrong? But before she could make any decision on that the male introduced himself as Terance. She dipped her head in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Terance," she spoke. He had been the beta of Sunspire for a long time then. Funny, she never heard Clary or Red about him. Or had seen him at the borders when she visited that one time. Oh well, it could be that he was busy at those times.

Then the male started to explain, or at least, give more information about the situation. Now Valette thought about it. Perhaps she had assumed wrong? "Oh," she sounded in realization. "Perhaps you are right. Maybe I took his words differently than he meant," Valette spoke. Now she felt a bit embarrassed that she was here on their doorstep. It seemed that nothing would change after all. "My apologies," Valette instantly spoke. Maybe with all the mishaps lately with Morningside, she just assumed the worst scenario possible when she heard leadership what changing.

Valette was relieved to hear that the other was willing to keep their alliance up. Especially with them being on the other side of the meadow, Valette was keen on having a good relationship with them. "I'm glad," Valette confirmed verbally. "Of course, I do hope nothing will happen to any wolf in your leadership. I just heard, and the situation wasn't there to ask about it further, hence my visit," she explained. Hopefully, they would not take offense. At least, the alpha female showed some worry about their leadership's health.

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terance smiled at her words, nodding gently. "no worries," he reassured her with a gentle wag of his tail, "mistakes happen, at least we were finally acquainted." and it was true, if anything there was good in valette visiting. it was probably good for terance and her to finally meet.

he shook his head. "no offense taken," he reiterated, really genuinely not at all upset with the miscommunication or confusion. and then he added with a chuckle, "me either." of course, no one could tell the future. and so no one present knew that in just a few days, terance would be having to travel to the west border to inform valette that what she'd came here today for, was exactly what had happened. 

"how is easthollow?" he asked her, his nose twitching. this was a good, productive topic change, he felt.

Valette dipped her head briefly to show that she was apologetic about the miscommunication. Luckily the male didn't take any offense. This pack was luckily having the same outlook on things as they had in Easthollow. If this would happen at her borders she wouldn't be offended either. For which she was glad. The male asked about Easthollow. There had been a few things that happened recently, not so fun things, but they were part of pack life.

"Easthollow is well," she spoke with a nod. Seeing that Rueger knew about her mate leaving she decided that such information wasn't really a secret, plus maybe Lost Creek Hollow could help keep an eye out for him. "My mate Stark vanished, after being ill for a long time. We don't know if someone took him or if he made a clear decision to leave. He is dark in coloring, blue eyes, and a scar on his chest," she explained. She gave the description just in case they wanted to keep an eye out.

"A loyal member, Illecebra, died recently as well. So those were two rather unpleasant things but there were also good things. Steph, my daughter, became Beta. She is still under my mentoring as she learns to be in a leadership position and we have quite some new members," she spoke and showed a quick smile. As she said herself, some good and bad things. But that was how things went in a pack, it couldn't always go right. It wasn't always fun. "How about you guys? Did the move go as planned?"

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valette told terance a list of misfortunes that pulled down the corners of his mouth. he tried to find words that sounded both eloquent but genuine. he didn't want to just putter out a sympathetic sentence-- he really, truly meant that he felt her grief-- but terance was not good with words all the time. he tried his hardest, though he may have come off a bit too robotic-- "my most sincere condolences, valette." he hesitated to speak again, his head dipping once, "that sounds generic and not genuine at all... but i mean it. i will keep a look out for stark." and he would. 

he tried to compensate. "my mate also left-- i know where she's gone, but she brought the children with her. she didn't feel safe on our mountain... it was why we left," he shared, forcing a small, sympathetic smile, "i understand what you're going through, i hope stark returns."

and then he tried to move on. "congratulations to your daughter, then, i'm sure she'll make a fine beta. next time i visit i hope to meet her," he added with a happier smile. he meant it, too. "our move has gone well, no bumps. the wolves of bearclaw valley has joined our ranks,  and we're settling in well."

Valette dipped her head in thank you to the male. Valette didn't feel like it sounded generic. The male used a tone that sounded empathic but she did appreciate the effort of him not wanting to sound generic. She didn't expect that the male had gone through what she had. Then again, he knows where his mate is, Valette was clueless about Stark's whereabouts. It made it even more difficult to process. Was her mate deceased or alive? Did he choose to leave them or was he forced?

"Then you definitely understand," she spoke with some compassion. She wasn't going to play the card that she had it worse. She was not the type to do such a thing. For Terance it probably felt the same, as lovers were torn apart. 'I hope your mate returns to you as well now you are living somewhere else," she spoke with a soft nod. She was not sure how certain it was that the female would return to the male but she sincerely hoped that she would. She didn't understand that his mate didn't stay with the safety of the pack, then again, who was she to judge?

Valette grinned when speaking of her daughter. She was very proud of her. It was clear. However, some new information was that the Bearclaw Valley wolves had joined them. "Wait-- What?," she asked with a frown. "My brother Xan lives here now?," Valette frowned more deeply. She didn't think that he would want to move, and perhaps he didn't even want to move. She didn't see her brother as the following type. 'Well that is good to know that they moved. They hadn't notified us yet," Valette spoke to the dark male. She thought they had been allies, a message would have been nice, especially from her brother.

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terance didn't hold his breath, but he nodded as politely as he could to valette's well wishes. and then, she seemed very shocked to hear about xan. terance was entirely unaware of their relationship, and so, again, it came as a surprise to the hollow's beta. "he does, yes. i didn't realize you were siblings," he told her, his ears pricked curiously as he awaited an answer.

"they are doing well," he reiterated, feeling a little bad he had broken the news instead of xan. maybe the pale man hadn't even wanted to share the news with vvalette-- though he couldn't imagine why. "i'm sorry, that was probably a weird bomb to drop on you," he added with a meek smile. so many weird things happening in this conversation...

Valette brushed away Terance shock. It wasn't like she looked a lot like Xan. Perhaps the same set of ears or the same nose, but coloring wise they were quite the opposite. Also with personality they were quite different. Still, to Valette he was her brother and she tried to be positive about him. "No worries, Terance," she smiled. 'Most wolves don't know."

"That is fine. He was probably busy with the move and making sure his family was safe," she smiled. The girl quirked her lips to him. She felt that this was her cue to leave. "Thank you for being kind. All my worries have vanished, thanks for talking to me." Valette dipped her head politely and then turned away to travel back to her own pack.

"glad i know now," replied terance with a small smile. he was. it was good to know their neighbors, especially since they were friendly wolves who weren't angry about them settling right next door. whatever, terance would leave it. 

and then valette excused herself, leaving terance to give a heavy dip of his head. "of course, valette, thank you for stopping by," he returned, his tail giving a quick few wags, "if you need anything, don't hesitate to call." and so, valette left, and terance turned back into the territory to tell rannoch of his encounter.