Silverlight Terrace it's my power outfit.

Well, the location certainly fit the description Harlyn had given her. Side of the mountain, coast in the distance, one staggeringly tall peak to the South. The only thing missing was... Well, the territory she was searching for. Poe's face twisted into a thoughtful frown as she strolled through the snow covered hills. The fading light of day was woven into the long, cinnamon and ochre fur along her spine, which she enjoyed, but it was another reminder of the fact that she was not in the right place. Willow trees wouldn't have much in the way of leaves on their dangling boughs this time of year, but they would still block far more of the sun than the empty hills here did.

That being said, it was very pretty. Poe paused to cast her gaze up towards the cliffs that lined the view to the West. They were darkened near to black by the pink and orange rays that reached out from behind them. She smiled to herself at the sight before casing her gaze around her at the way the light glittered on the snow. She wondered what this place was called and if her parents would recognize the description when she returned home and described it to them. Thinking of them reminded her of what she was doing out here and she refocused, setting her paws to motion again to take her South along the path she'd set for herself.

As the sun was setting, Jarilo cruised down the boundaries of the Spear and out beyond on loose trail of deer he had been scoping for a few days now. He had missed them exactly, but it seemed like they were coming around out here early in the evening, maybe sooner. This was the first time he was noting the same group in a particular set pattern here, at least as far as lately was concerned. Maybe something about the winter's end, and all the deeper colds recently, had them forcing out this way more for food; he still needed to stalk after them better to find out for sure to see if any of them were actually worth hunting down.

So, he picked up an easy trot and set off with his nose set to track. The prints were still old ones crusted in the snow from last night, so he wasn't able to get his hopes up just yet—but he could wait and see, especially since it wasn't quite night.

In doing so and further scoping out the area, he noticed someone heading his way and moving along at a pretty good clip a lot like him too. While not the deer he was actually hoping to see coming this way, this got his attention nicely enough. Since he knew he stood out against the snowy landscape, he simply kept jogging roughly towards her in return with his ears up and looking sharp.

Poe was confident that this territory was not claimed by a pack - there were scents upon it that seemed to have some commonality in them, but she had not crossed any heavy concentration that signified borderlands, so she was confident that she was safe. Until she spotted another wolf approaching her, rather intently. Then she began to doubt herself.

The Ostrega paused, her ears falling back as she canted her head in curiosity at the approaching figure. He was a dark, inky blot on the golden white landscape, heading her way fast. She took another deep whiff of the air and reasserted her confidence. If anything, she was on this guy's hunting grounds. And seeing as she wasn't hunting (at least not for prey), she knew she could ease any conflict that arose, if there was any.

Feeling better, Poe trotted forward to meet him - her posture nuetral and friendly. She let out a short call to him that was equally friendly to set the tone prior to meeting him, just in case. And about two minutes later when they were near enough to speak, Poe stopped, and gave him a friendly smile. "Hey! I'm Poe. I'm not trespassing, am I?" she said.

He had hazarded a bit of a guess in approaching so forwardly himself, but on these familiar grounds, he was just pretty confident all-around. When she got closer, she appeared sane enough so far, and he could appreciate the seemingly low-impact neutrality she brought with her as he slowed up his paws and wiggled his nose actively her way openly.

Seeing her friendliness well-expressed brought a slow wave to his tail, too, but he did maintain the slight lift to his whole everything--stance included, for now. No.. you're fine out here, he replied first and foremost. Keep going on that way and you might end up that way, though. he answered with a jerk to his nose back towards where the elevations steeped for the Spear before he peered back at her. As long as her nose could function minimally, he didn't worry about her just traipsing off onto their claimed spaces though.

Anyway, since she said her name was Poe, he'd answer back readily enough about that too. I'm Jarilo. Are you looking for something? he introduced, and asked too for good measure and hoping that his assumption came vague enough. She smelled like the Tuktu, he noticed, so he kind of didn't want to assume that this was just some casual little wander to the other side of the barrier's range.

Poe visibly sagged with relief when her new companion put her at ease. Her tail wagged as she straightened again and smiled, appreciative of the information that actually validated her thoughts about where she was and where she'd been headed. He introduced himself next and she fell fully back into her easy nature - cheerful, relaxed, and totally ready to befriend everyone and everything that crossed her path.

"Actually, yeah," she answered brightly, happy for the open invitation to barrel right on into her whole spiel, "The territory that-a-way, it wouldn't happen to be a forest of willow trees, would it? I'm on the hunt for a couple of brothers I've never met that I'm hoping are still living in a grove of willows on the Eastern edge of a long mountain range."

He didn't have any reason not to go with the flow here, as she made it pretty easy, spear-heading right to some sort of point that he could definitely roll with. But, the worst part seemed to be that he did have to keep giving her negative answers. Hm, no. The kinds with the long leaves and drape-y branches, right? Never seen a whole forest of them off our way, he shook his head, affirming his no pretty casually. He only knew about a few willow trees sprinkled here and there--they were pretty hard to miss, especially the older, more dramatic ones--and then a few growths of alpine willow he knew had been able to observe high up the ranges in trailing the older wolves.. but that was negated by her mention of a forest; alpine willow was pretty low-growing and scrubby to really make for anything called a forest. And if it did, he didn't want think it would be a particularly pleasant place.

Anyway: Unless it's very far south on the range from here. I've never seen the end, the yearling did slide in for a disclaimer, because not even he'd seen the end of it but it would have to be way, way out there to be so--which also unfortunately fit her note about a long mountain range. But there are other mountains if you keep going northeast of here, he tacked on haphazardly with his nose aiming off towards their horizon, roughly enough. This Ostrega never been, though, so had nothing else to mention about that.

Poe nodded to confirm the description he gave. Harlyn had tracked down a willow tree and taken her to see it prior to letting her leave on this venture, just to make sure she'd be able to identify it when she saw one. It had struck her as kind of crazy and unneccessary. After all, willow trees were pretty unique amongst their fellows. Harlyn had always been a little overly zealous about things, though, and Poe had never said no to a trip before, soooo.

Anyway.

She considered the information he gave her and mapped it to what she knew about the location of this forest. "Hmm... I might have to check out the other range," she said thoughtfully, "It's South of the coast, but I don't think it was all that far South. Though I supposed it wouldn't hurt to keep traveling along this one for a ways further, then head over to the other on a different day. The Redhawks'll probably think I bailed on them if I try to do both in one trip..."

At some point, she had begun to talk to herself. The moment she mentioned the Redhawks though, she came back to herself and looked at Jarilo again. "Sorry! Got lost in my brain map for a second," she explained, grinning, "So I take it you're from around here?" He did seem to know about the area, so it stood to reason.

Since she looked like she was chewing that information over, he figured it gave her something to work with--even if it did inspire something pretty rambly that he had not been prepared to need to keep up with. His ears did do a little twitch when she said Redhawks. Forewarned as an eccentric bunch, and he understood why he thought she kind of smelled like Clover had, that added up too well but the yearling smirked.

Yeah, I am. From Moonspear, the big one, he gestured over his shoulder to the towering peak that vanished into the clouds. He'd danced around being so direct up until now, but if she was talking mental maps and all, then she might as well have an important marker to place upon it. There's a valley south after, then more mountains, a river, more mountains. Typical stuff. You'd probably be going pretty far south for a maybe, I'd guess... he supposed aloud to give her more to consider. If she didn't want to be far from home for long, then he didn't really suggest it. She could scope the other range next; it was probably the smarter choice. He didn't know about any willows here. What, do Redhawks make you have a curfew or something? he asked, kind of jesting but also just wondering why she had to mention that at all. Maybe that was another reason why Clover hadn't been so comfy there, besides the damp territory.

"Moonspear..." Poe repeated softly to herself as she looked back at the tall peak that reached up to pierce the sky. It did seem aptly named, she considered as she nodded in silent approval. Her ears swiveled to attention as he continued to describe the lands to the South of his home - valleys, mountains, rivers. It was all fairly standard, and not likely to hold any copse of willows. It seemed her path truly was to the East. And it was definitely a trip for another day.

Speaking of which. "Nah, this one is self-imposed," Poe said with a grin, "I'm new to the pack and I already warned them that I won't be able to stick around too long. I want to head back home in the Spring to let my mom know how my search for the willows and my brothers went. Hopefully by then I'll have something to tell her. But anyway, I was upfront about all that with the Redhawks when I joined and I don't want them to think I up and bailed on them before I'd planned." She just wasn't the kind to do something like that, plus the pack had been good to her so far, and she was good to those who were good to her. And, let's be honest, to everyone else as well.

Easily nodding, he went on to listen after and supposed that made sense to behave if she was new to the pack. He didn't have a lot else to say on the Redhawks himself, besides that he'd heard from Clover that it was soggy there, so he kind of made half an effort to let that drop. Noted, however, was her bit about the search for the brothers and the willows thing again. That was kind of curious to him, so he'd veer it off a little that way if he could help it. He found it relatable enough since he had a missing brother too, but circumstances were probably different and he certainly wasn't searching beyond the immediate horizon at large for his.

Nodding: Oh, well.. makes sense, he decided on before he gained real traction for a real reply. Hope that search goes well for you then. Who are they—your brothers? Just in case I run into them somehow.. but we don't see a lot of traffic our way, usually. Maybe just in case, he reasoned out-loud so that he could get a chance to hear more, but he did hope it wasn't necessary and that she would just find the willows and they were there too. He didn't need to be the middle-man for someone's family reunion anyway.

Poe considered that she would probably be more successful at her hunt if she could ever just learn to open with I'm looking for Silas and Pippin Ostrega instead of I'm looking for some willow trees. After all, how likely was it that they were still in that forest? Hell, not even Harlyn had known for sure if Pippin had returned to the willows after she'd left - he'd run off prior to that happening. Willows did not mean brothers. But, at the end of the day, it was willows she knew she'd have an easier time fnding than the others. It would be her starting point.

"Oh! I didn't mention that, did I?" Poe said with a small laugh at herself, "Silas and Pippin Ostrega. They would be about three years old now. Pippin is light like honey and gold. Silas is dark, like tree bark with cream and bronze markings." She paused, then smiled a little, "At least, so I've been told."

Well, he supposed she hadn't said that outright so he started to shake his head no—though stopped as she spoke on. Knowing that they were brothers of hers was probably the bare minimum that he needed to hear. Did he need to have their names, ranks, appearances, and pawprints memorized? Likely not for the sake of her search. This was kind of her thing, but he was nosy and she was likeable enough company that he couldn't quite bring himself to shrug and leave with well wishes in his wake.

Silas and Pippin, and the bolt of familiarity that followed their surname wasn't one he withheld—because if she was their sibling, she could very bear the name herself. Jarilo did understand that the family seemed scattered enough since she was not the first beyond their own he had learned off wearing the same; it was not all too shocking to hear it, but it did interest him in a new sort of light now with that commonality between them.

He usually didn't bring up his surname on the first meeting unless it seemed official, or he had something to gain in it, but this was a good case otherwise. She didn't seem to be the type to use the knowledge for nefarious purposes, but he did wonder what it may mean for her, so he'd tell her to see how that went: Oh hey—I'm an Ostrega too, he interjected brightly and waved his tail slow and steady. From the sounds of it, her brothers' appearances were far from matches on most of his family, except, perhaps notably, his younger sisters Yami and Yama. Being earthy shades at all was close enough to him in their mess of monochrome otherwise. But I definitely don't know any Pippin or Silas, sorry. I'll still keep an ear out, he offered back, thinking he could pass the word by his family too. Maybe Hydra would have run into them.. she seemed to know a lot of folk.

"No way!" Poe chirped happily at the news that they shared a surname. Her mind reeled with about a thousand questions all at once, which actually did a good job of keeping her mouth shut so she didn't interrupt Jarilo as he continued. That he didn't know Pippin or Silas might've disappointed her a moment ago, but the discovery of their shared lineage far overshadowed that for her.

"Don't worry about it - it was a long shot," she said, "Who are your parents? My dad's name is Mordecai. He lived around here for a long time before he and my mom left. He mentioned that there were more Ostregas here, but I can't remember what relation."

The wag of his tail swayed a little more then, even if hers continued to not be names he knew personally so his actual helpfulness continued to end there. Just how many Ostregas were there now, though? Mordecai? Hm never heard of him either so who knows. My parents are Charon and Ame, he replied. My dad grew up by the sea not too far from here, but he was orphaned young and raised by the cove vikings. Here now it's mostly all my family, he said, as far as Ostregas went since he was related to most of them he knew and didn't know a lot of the history besides that before his father.

For a little while someone called Andalusia Ostrega stayed with us, but she's long left, he tacked on just to see if that name was some relation of hers somehow, even if it felt like a really big reach and just a random namedrop considering he knew nothing about Andalusia's connection to the family other than that she wore the surname herself, not where she came from or anything else to possibly be useful with.

Poe frowned as she tried to wrack her memory to come up with some recollection of the wolves Jarilo spoke of. "Charon kind of rings a bell," she commented, "But none of the others. You said Charon and Ame are you parents, and then there's an Andalusia? Any idea what relation she is to you guys? Do you have any other siblings?"

She might not recognize the names, but there was a good chance her dad would. She wanted to be able to tell him about their extended family when she got home. Sure, she'd come to find her brothers and bring news of them home, but that didn't mean they were the only Ostregas she could talk about.

Ohh, it was an interesting little note to hear his father's name ring a bell and his head perked accordingly. Generally speaking, Jarilo vaguely understood that his father seemed to be rather removed from the family beyond.. which, dead blood-parents made that reasonable enough. Maybe they knew more about him than he had once thought, or, somehow, word had trickled across the wilds even beyond his horizons. He still easily considered them their own differing branch entirely by now. Not overlapping with Mariposa's Ostregas besides maybe a distant mention of Charon so far was still proving this true enough.

He just didn't know a lot about Andalusia, and he didn't really know to piece it together that Dirge was an Ostrega by name somehow either. That was a different matter entirely. Yep, and no--I don't know exactly how she related to us, I didn't think she did either, really? Or if Andalusia did, he had never found out about it. Maybe Hydra would know more but he doubted it and he wasn't about to drag her out here over it. They had taken the name for what it was worth basically and it barely mattered now that Andalusia had gone off to search for her mate or whatever it had ended up being..

The Ostrega had a bit more to mention about his siblings, anyway, so went on ahead since she'd asked. I do: plenty of sisters, and two younger brothers. Most are here, a few are missing but.. seems like that's how it is, he said since their situations aligned there somewhat. Korei had left on her own, Alya off with her mate, Revui and Yami completely vanished apparently, and even lately Vela seemed distant, so these were all their own issues of varying degree to him.

Poe grinned at his answer. "Yeah, that's one thing I know for sure about our family - we do like to wander," she replied, remembering her own father commenting about the Ostrega wanderlust that had afflicted their family for generations. As a child, she had insisted that she would never, ever, ever abandon him. He had smiled at her in that knowing way of his, and only now that she was older did she understand the joke.

"Plenty of sisters, though. You poor thing," she went on after a beat, "Sisters are a massive pain. I know from experience. Not that mine were like that, but I sure was to my littermate." She grinned, thinking of Cajun.

The way she answered about the wandering definitely struck him. So that's really a thing then, hm? he nodded, kind of amused by the clarity of it all. He had really wondered, and everyone else more experienced seemed to just understand that it could run in their blood that they would just wander off eventually. Sometimes it was that way, sometimes it wasn't. Deep down he admittedly worried it would strike him at random one day, even if that was difficult to imagine for the homebody who barely made it past the valleys most treks out.

But, he laughed lightly. So sister strife was another common factor here among these distant Ostregas, it seemed. Really though, and I just have so many, and all so different, of varying ages and dispositions, he was very outnumbered even with the help of his feral, often quiet, brothers. I love them but it can be a lot sometimes, he grinned, to think how they had all inevitably shaped some piece of him but it reminded him to bring something up before he got swept up in wondering about faraway Ostregas.

I do also have one sister who is missing, though. She's been gone a while.. no trace or word. And man, how many moons had it been already? He had lost count. But, earthy brown fur and gold eyes, about a yearling? Her name's Yami. I guess if you run across her while you're looking for your brothers, tell her we miss her and hope she's.. out there okay, I guess? Jarilo unpacked on her as concisely as he could. If you can, he amended, swift I can let your brothers know you're looking for them if I come across them.. but I really do think you'll find the willows before then, he mentioned because he did not go very far but he did hope to help encourage her search somehow, even if it was small.

Poe nodded to reaffirm her statement. "Mmhmm. It's what my dad always told me, and heck, I'm living proof myself these days," she said with a smile. Part of her wondered if the wanderlust truly was part of their genes, or if they had all just been inspired to travel by the constant affirmation that it was. Either way, she was okay with it. She loved it with all her soul.

She grinned as Jarilo spoke of his sisters. It made her heart ache for the family she had left behind in Sablemoon. Poe was not the deeply spiritual druid her mother and the rest of her extended family through the Cinderlochs were, but they were still a part of her. A part she had been away from for such a long time.

Her ears perked when the tables turned. It seemed she was not the only Ostrega searching for a wayward sibling. She felt for him. She had never met the brothers she was looking for and while she did long for them in her own way, it wasn't the same as losing a sibling you'd known and loved. Especially when that sibling was gone without a trace.

"I will definitely keep my eyes and ears out for you," Poe reassured him with a gentle smile, "It's no problem at all, seeing as I'm already hunting for a couple of Ostregas anyway. I'll just add this one to the list." She chuckled softly at her own joke, but it was meant with sincerity. Jarilo didn't seem like one to wander too far from home, but she certainly was. She would cover far more ground, and was very pleased to be able to help out her family.

Coincidentally enough, I almost replied to this thread under Yami on accident lol

Living proof of the wandering Ostregas was in more places than he had wanted to admit. I wondered. I've seen it here and there, he said, and heard it implied even more than that. He just wasn't one of them, yet, which was still alright with him and he took some solace hoping that his wayward sisters were about as well-adjusted as she seemed to be. He just hoped none of them had died out there, alone and unknown far from their peaks.

Thanks for that, he said. I'm sure you travel further than I will, so good luck out there, wherever. he added on, and sensed this might veer towards a parting ways soon, so if so the farewells and such to follow would be had. She probably had ground to cover, one way or another. Jarilo wasn't going to get in the way of that, and he appreciated the chance to have met her in the first place.

aw yami ;o; maybe she misses us after all

Poe smiled at his gratitude. It seemed their meeting was drawing to a close, which saddened her a bit even though she knew she needed to be getting on. She had traveled a lot in her short life and so often, meetings like this were a one and done deal. She never wanted it to be so, but that was life. With any luck, she would be able to return to him some information on his lost sister. Maybe with a little more luck, her path would bring her across him again simply by chance. She could only hope.

"Thanks, good luck to you as well," Poe said, "I'm sure you'll find your sister. Keep your chin up. I hope I see you again sometime, and tell the family I said 'hi'." She wagged her tail as she stepped forward to sniffle at his nose in a friendly farewell before turning and heading off on her way again. Jarilo might not've been one of the brothers she was looking for, but he was family, and she was still glad to have met him.

she'll pop back over someday! ;_; You can post again or just archive <3 Thanks for threading!!

He had learned a bit here, and was grateful, though a bit sad that it had to end for now despite understanding why--because they led different lives, of different goals. But one thing was sure if she did want to find him again. You'll know where to find me, if you're ever by, he shrugged towards the mountain with a grin. I don't really plan on going anywhere, and I will tell them, he said, happy to have that little piece to take back to them, and thankful for a little bit of Ostrega solidarity despite their differing roads and roots as he eventually headed on back to his family after one last goodbye.