Grouse Thicket Pan's labyrinth

@Rannoch 

Wraen had come across familiar tracks and scents by an accident and first had not believed, what her oflactory memory was telling her. Liffey, Rannoch and their brood were literally mountains and valleys away from this place, so, how could it be that she would find traces of them here and now of all times? She had not particularly missed her old friends and co-leaders from Sunspire, knowing that they had their paws full of kids and pack leading stuff to do, leaving no time at all to remember a friend that had left them. 

But now, seemingly having found tracks left by them, she was overcome by longing and curiousity about, how were the family doing now, how was Terance. It had been months, since they had spoken last, and while Maia would probably fill his ears of all the awesome adventures they had had along the way, she would be simply happy to see her brother's kind face again and keep a comfortable silence. That would be nice.

And with this thought in mind she stopped tracking and turned to go back to the Sun Mote Copse, eager to tell her sister about her discovery.

Weather: 29˚ Partly Cloudy.
Territory: This young forest, named for the large population of grouse that calls it home, is a near-impenetrable tangle of young hardwoods, most notably apple trees. The dense woodland is only broken by occasional small openings, where the birds will come out of the cover to peck at exposed grit and sun themselves.
Attention: N/A. Tags are for reference.

Rannoch, @Breccan, @Deshyr, and @Remi had stayed behind while @Liffey had gone on an excursion to the Firebird's new claim. Their time at Heron Lake Plateau was dwindling, and she wanted to see Eljay before they returned home to the Hollow. Although he had encouraged the trip, he found himself becoming anxious shortly after she had departed. Rannoch was confident that they had been successful in generating the next Frostfur litter, he was concerned for them. What if something happened to her along the way? He couldn't risk it. 

Rannoch had left his children in the care of @Elwood and @Finley before he embarked; he had not foreseen any distractions along the way.

"Wraen?" Rannoch called, regarding the tangle of hardwoods that separated them, "Is that you?" Although familiar, there was something different about the scent she wore. Rannoch stepped in the direction that the smell originated, and craned his neck in an attempt to get a better view of the silhouette in the distance.

If Wraen had thought that the scents she had found were love-children of wishful thinking and her imagination, then the sound of Rannoch's voice shattered that assumption. She spun around, saw the familiar shape and form of her former alpha and friend (hopefully, still active), knew that her faculties at creativity were not that skilled to make a living, bones and flesh Rannoch from the depths of her mind out in the living world. 

"Rannoch!" she exclaimed and bounded towards him, her tail wagging happily and wiggling her butt along the way. She pranced the last two strides to him, bowed and got up, and forgetting all an every polite boundaries, broke inside his personal space and sniffed his muzzle (with occasional licks inbetween) eagerly. "What are you doing here of all places?" she asked, when the first burst of excitement had calmed down.

"Wraen!" Rannoch returned excitedly, instantly recognizing her voice, "It is you!" She bounded from the tangle, her excitement unmistakeable, and Rannoch watched her approach with a smile and wagging tail. "I can't believe you're here!" he added, as she started investigating the scents that were riddled upon his muzzle. Rannoch reciprocated Wraen's actions, investigating all the smells (and offering the occasional lick) that she carried. 

"Liffey, the kids, and I decided to give the Redhawks a visit," he answered. "We've been there for some time, actually—a few sun-cycles if I remember correctly," Rannoch was never accurate in keeping time. "And I'm here because I was following Liffey to go visit the Firebirds," it didn't cross his mind that Wraen might have been aligned with the newly-formed pack. "She's got some family who is apart of the pack," he explained. 

"What about you?" he prompted, "What are you doing here?"

"That's quite a way away from the Lost Creek Hollow," Wraen remarked, admiring (and - frankly speaking - considering the little family a bit crazy for undertaking such a long journey, but crazy, apparently, ran in the Blackthorn family) their courage to come all this way to meet their parents and other family members. But if everyone in their flock looked just as good and well-off as Rannoch did, then why should she worry or bother.

"Maia and me are staying with Firebirds. We met Wildfire - she is our cousin on our mother's side - found to like each other and the cause she is running and now we live here," Wraen explained. "We had some exploring done before that and traveled extensively as well, therefore it is nice to take a rest among friends," she went on. "Maia seems eager to continue adventures in spring, I am more inclined for a more settled way of life. But we will see," she finished.

"How is Terance doing?" she asked. "And the rest of the pack - has life been treating you well?"

"It is," Rannoch agreed; it had been a long journey, but worth it. "We took it a little slow, too. I wanted to show Liff and the kids the ocean, so we took the scenic route." The excursion had been a blessing for his entire family. 

"Oh, Wraen. That's fantastic," Rannoch replied earnestly after Wraen's account. "I've been concerned about you two, and I'm thrilled that you are resting among friends and family for the season, at least." Winter was hard on everybody, even the experienced, and he was glad that they had found solace. 

"Terance is good, from what I've seen," Rannoch reported, his mood dampening slightly, "I've been stowed away in the medicine den—got attacked by a bear a few moon cycles ago. Almost died, apparently. He shrugged; he had been knocked out for some time. "In my absence from leadership, Terance has taken over as sole leader of the Hollow, for the time being. Treason has stepped up into leadership as well." 

Despite their hardships, Rannoch couldn't complain, "We're still thriving, and that's all I could ever ask for."

So all had not been flowers and rainbows after Wraen had opted to leave Sunspire wolves for good. Those bears were a true curse. Either them or occasional cougars, two meanest fiends that wolves in Teekon had to face. Some more often than the others. Though she would have asked, what exactly had happened to Rannoch, her friend did not seem very inclined to return that topic. And talking about unpleasant stuff just to quench her curiousity did not seem right to her. Therefore she left it at that.

"Treason has always been ambitious - glad to hear that she has got the rank she desired," Wraen said, surprised to find out that she had no hard feelings towards the she-wolf she had never been able to get along with. With her leaving she had comfortably forgotten Treason and the awkwardness she had always felt in her presence. "I am happy for you and may the next year bring no troubles for you at all," she sincerely wished for Rannoch's and Terance's sakes that their trials and tribulations of the past year had come to a close. A mundane, boring, but safe routine for the rest of their lives.

On the subject of Treason, Rannoch couldn't help but agree—her ambition was the driving force behind her ascent in the ranks. "It's been a long time coming," he admitted. "I'm glad, too." 

Wraen went on to wish the Hollow a fortuitous year, and Rannoch dipped his head appreciatively. "You too, Wraen." he replied, his eyes lifting to meet hers. "And please know that you and Maia are always welcome at the Hollow. Please, don't be strangers?"

"It's a quite a bit of journey from here to, where you live," Wraen replied and at this point it was quite obvious that she was not planning to go do any traveling. With her and Terance estranged and Rannoch being involved in his family life and forgetting about her, once he got home, there really was nothing and no one for her to return to at the hollow, but she did not say this aloud and kept smiling. Maybe she was too harsh on them, but life was what it was. People's paths crossed, they walked together for a while and then separated.

"But Maia's is on her edge to be on the road again, so you might see and hear her howling at your doorstep," she added. "How was your visit at the Redhawks? I understand that Liffey has numerous family members there?"

"Yeah, that's true," Rannoch replied, feeling marginally disappointed by her response, "I just wanted to extend the offer." Maia, on the other hand, was who he'd keep an eye and ear out for. "Will you extend the offer to her when you see her next?" he asked.  

"The visit was good," he returned, "It was good for all of us to get out of the Hollow and spend time together—I think we're all much happier, now. It also always good to see Elwood and Finley, too." Liffey's immediate family was who Rannoch had interacted with the most—the total population of her familial ties was overwhelming. "I feel like I always meet a new family member every time we visit," he mused.

"Definitely. She would go there even without an extension," Wraen grinned, though, honestly speaking, she did not look forward to the time she would have to spend without Maia. The world would be more boring without the cheerful sibling by her side. 

"They are quite numerous, aren't they?" she agreed, having only heard of the extensiveness of Blackthorn family. She too had to meet them all yet. "How have the kids grown up? They must be adults now, though I remember baby-faces and over-sized feet still," she asked.

Rannoch nodded to agree; the Blackthorns were everywhere. Surely, they'd take over the valley someday by their numbers alone. 

"The children are good," he replied warmly—at least, his children that remained. "During the chaos that surrounded my attack, Wisteria went missing," Rannoch's heart hurt, and he was still clueless to why she had decided to run off. "She just..vanished," he admitted, his voice softer, and a frown on his lips. "The pack looked for her but, we've had no luck." Rannoch still kept an eye out for his wayward daughter, too. 

"The others are good, though," he reiterated, redirecting their conversation. "Making us proud daily."

"That's very unfortunate. I hope she is doing well, wherever she is now," Wraen sympathized with Rannoch, recalling Wisp being a very shy and wayward cub from early on. But around this time she had to be old enough to fend for herself and she refused to think about the other likely possibility that met underage wolves on their own in the wilds. 

Her friend then said something that changed the light of how Wraen had been seeing him. All those months, leading side by side, having heart-to-heart talks and she had never ever considered a "what if..." scenario up until know. Huh... she canted her head to the side. Rannoch was a good father material. Someone she would like to have by her side, if she ever aimed for a family. How things change... she thought to herself and tucked that nice, little, fluffy thought in her pocket to enjoy it after their meeting was over.

"Has Terance settled down with anyone?" she asked then, wondering, if her brother had found a new love-interest after the fall-out with Seabreeze.

"Me too," Rannoch agreed, welcoming Wraen's condolences. "I hope she's happy." He sighed; it was as though talking about Wisteria has inadvertently lifted a meager amount of weight off of his soul.  In realizing his lifted weight, Rannoch was oblivious to his friend's short, thoughtful pause. 

He shook his head in reply to Wraen's question. "No, I don't think so," he replied, "At least, from what he's told me." They both knew that Terance was a secretive man when it came to matters of his love life. "So... in that case... probably—since we both know how he gets when he's with somebody," he concluded with a laugh.

"I guess, whoever wrote Terance's destiny, did not plan for him to be alone," Wraen replied with a wistful smile. For his sake she hoped that, whoever the lady in question was and whenever she would turn up in his life, it would be the final one. Or at least a pleasant experience to remember. Not like Lyra or Hydra. And definitely not anything like Seabreeze. 

"He hasn't had any of those dark moments recurring?" she asked Rannoch, though then she recalled that he had been out and recovering for quite some time and would not have known much.

"Totally," he agreed. Terance deserved the best, and although he had found himself in the company of Lyra, Hyrda, and Seabreeze at one time or another, Rannoch felt as though he needed somebody who fulfilled both his emotional and physical needs. 

"No, not that I'm aware of," Rannoch answered; he was unsure of the last time Terance had talked about his dark moments. "But, I'm not sure if that's because I've been out of commission for so long. I'll keep an eye on him, though," he promised.

"Please, do so," Wraen said, sounding both relieved and a little guilty at the same time. During the almost 5 months she had spent on her own, she had hardly given Terance much thought, under assumption that he was a grown up man, he was fine. And only this chance meeting reminded her of things that had troubled his brother in the past.

"So, should we go and find Liffey? I assume that, if she is heading towards my home I could as well accompany you there," she offered. 

You can fade this out in your next post or we can go on, if you wish.

When asked about finding Liffey, Rannoch realized how preoccupied he had become while conversing with Wraen. "Yeah," he agreed, finding himself motivated once more to find his mate, "Let's go."

With Wraen leading the way, Rannoch followed her to the Firebird's claim.