Phoenix Maplewood there's a voice that pulls me stumbling through a symphony

the maplewood has fast become a favoured hunting ground, and she ponders claiming it once they are stronger, more established, in a similar manner to the way they had when living on the plains. but that could well have been a mistake; it has caused the wolves of morningside nearly to clash with siarut's group, and such a big territory to patrol had worn them thin. no; she decides, she will not move to repeat the mistakes of the past. 

instead, she is on the trail of yet another lone stag; younger than that she'd followed at the grove, less certain. her trail wandered; he had no herd to call his own. still, he was a formidable opponent that she would not hunt; young and quick with his antlers. 

or rather, antler; at the base of a tree she finds a discarded half of a pair. she brushes her muzzle over it, gaining from the scent what information she can.

maybe @Dauntless?

He's like a big goofy Labrador, lol.

He shouldn't have been surprised. Dauntless had family all over these parts, so running into a half-sister should have been right up in his top ten list of "today's list of happenings." When he caught her trail, he followed it until he spotted her up ahead. Dawn! Daaaaawn! It's me, Daaaawntless! They hadn't seen each other since... well, a very long time, but he never forgot a scent! Except, apparently, his birth mother's. Oops.

Paying no mind to whatever she was doing, he bounded up to her and did the ol' lemme-crash-into-your-whole-body thing with his own body. Surely she would appreciate that, right?

i love him sm xD

if the sound of a body crashing through the snow isn't enough warning, her shouted name is more than enough. she spins, tail up and stance stiff, issuing a clipped, "hey!" that does absolutely nothing to stop the train of a wolf. then they're colliding, and she realizes abruptly the name he yelled. 

"dauntless!" she yells, pressing forward to meet him if only to avoid being bowled over. it doesn't quite work, and she crashed backward onto her rear, landing worrying close to the sharp tines of the discarded antler. she's hardly paying attention to it anymore, instead vouching to pull her brother toward her in the wolfy equivalent of a bear hug.

Crashing into his older sister was an easy feat, although he managed to reign it in enough to keep her from completely falling over. The big goof licked her face and grinned wide. How have you been?! What are you up to?! What's going on?! he asked in rapid succession, pulling back to give her at least a little bit of space to talk. There were approximately twelve billion questions he wanted to ask, but he supposed he'd just have to start with the basics first.

She probably didn't look that much different from the last time he'd seen her, but Dauntless could have sworn she'd shrunk three sizes. Then again, he'd been much younger then and everybody had seemed bigger when he was younger. Now everybody seemed smaller. He didn't really understand why that was, but he had definitely noticed.

his mood is infectious, and is really quite good at smoothing over any shock or irritation she might feel. his rapid-fire questions earned a laugh; she could hardly believe this was the same little brother she's last seen all that time ago. he no longer fit the image of a gangly pup she had in her mind; none of them did. "I'm good - what about you? where've you been?" she probes, tail wagging as she rights herself back onto all four paws. 

"I'm starting a pack that way. whitebark stream. lavender's there, sunny and his kids, too. you should join us," she invites easily, feeling a wave of what might be giddiness wash down her spine. at this rate, she has to wonder what long-lost family member will show their face next.

Dawn said that she was good, and she was starting a pack. Wow, just wow! So cool! Totally rad. Lavendar was there, along with Sunny. Well, that just left Easy to convince, and they'd have the whole gang pretty much back together! Easy is stayin' down south a little ways. I guess Lavendar decided not to... What about the three littler ones? He was, of course, referring to Kasatka, Eventide, and Winterbourne. Daunty honestly had a hard time keeping track of them all.

And do you know... Bhediya? I think that's her name. But maybe it's Khoe. She acted like she knew me, but I've never met her. Maybe Dawn could solve this mystery, since he hadn't gotten the chance to really ask Easy or Lavendar. Dawn was older, too, so maybe she knew something he didn't.

she nods, easy had seemed comfortable where she was, and she didn't want to come in between her sister and the place she'd found.  easy, it seemed, had always been somewhat independent. she did not fault her in the slightest, was glad only that she was close. 

the littler ones - oh. "winterbourne's living with a pack south of the mountains, kaistleoki. he says he's following his heart." she reiterated, adding, "the others—I haven't seen any trace of them." she's come to terms with this. she's searched long, and she could not focus on the missing when other were present, and needed her. 

she blinks at his last few words. "khoe? she's your mother. she left when you were a pup—you don't remember her?" she asked, curious. though she supposed, should her mother return now, she'd have no inkling who she was, either. but dauntless had been older, surely, he should have some remembrance of his dam?

That made sense; Kaistleoki was the last place Dauntless had seen both Dawn and Winterbourne in the same spot. Even Dauntless had spent a short stint there, although he hadn't been sure about going back. What if they were mad at him for leaving? What if they didn't want him back? Those were the sorts of things he wanted to avoid. It was easier than owning up to his leaving them without saying anything. He frowned when she said she hadn't heard anything from the other two.

But it was the answer to his question that really threw him off. She's what? he asked, hardly able to believe that. But then again... he hadn't ever met his birth mother, had he? He knew Catori and Pema were his real moms, through-and-through. He knew that his birth mother had left them when he was very young, but he had no recollection of her. He'd been a mere child at the time, just over two months old.

No, I don't... She left when we were so young. I don't remember her at all. Why did she leave, anyway? And why did she change her name? Did she not want to be found again? he asked, simply assuming Dawn had the answers to all these questions.

his slew of questions was not unexpected - Dawn had asked them all herself, at some point of another. "I asked her why. she said she was young and stupid." that wasn't exactly verbatim, but it was also possible that Dawn would never fully forgive the woman for leaving them behind all those years ago. 

as for the name—"I'm not sure. I think it's just something she does - she was Akuti before she was Khoe, and now she's Bhediya." maybe she got bored? she has no concrete answer for him, though is fairly certian she'd asked something similar of her father, once.

Huh. Dawn had some answers, but none of them made the situation any more clear to him. Well, Catori and Pema were better mothers to me than she was. Dauntless had no intention of suddenly calling her mother or even trying to get close to her. She may have birthed him, but what sort of parent just... left her kids when they were so young? That made him even less interested in staying with Easy back at... whatever that pack's name was. That, of course, meant he would likely end up here, with Dawn. But maybe...

I think I'm gonna track down Winterbourne at Kaistleoki. See how he's doin'. It only seemed right since he'd been able to reconnect with Easy, Lavender, and Dawn. With the whereabouts of his other two younger siblings unknown, he didn't plan to go on a mission to find them. Once I've done that, I'll come back and let you know what I decide to do. I'll have to swing by and let Easy know, too. There were so many options around, Dauntless was going to have a hard time deciding. Then again, he didn't really like the thought of living with Bhediya.

his statement is met with a nod, small smile creasing her features. "catori made dad happy," she offers. truly happy—the time that they had been mated had been a good one for morningside as a whole. 

he announces his intent, and though it is not what she'd so selfishly wanted, she dips her head in easy acceptance. "that'd be a good idea. when you see him - could you tell him I said hi? and that our borders are whitebark are open to him, if he'd like to visit." despite her anger toward evergreen, his words had stuck.

"same goes for you, no matter what you decide," she offer, tail wagging. it'd be good for them to reconnect, and perhaps all Sunny needed to revive his memory was to see enough faces from his past.

He now had more of a concrete plan, which was the most he'd had since coming back and reconnecting with Easy and Lavender. It was nice to have all his family just a bit scattered out here and there. The traveling wasn't all that bad, and it gave Daunty time to meet wolves (maybe some ladies) while he went from place to place. Of course, he replied, tail wagging. Send Lavender my love, too. I know she's having a hard time coping with... you know. Daunty bit his lip, remembering how he'd pressed her on details about why she'd left Round Valley.

Going in for another hug, Dauntless let himself bask in the moment of brotherly/sisterly love. When he withdrew, he took a deep breath, feeling good about where things were headed. He had options, and he had plenty of time to think about things in the meantime. No rush, just easy breezy traveling times.

at his request, the huntress nods, and is either made curious or somber by his statement, depending on how much lavender reveals in that other thread that isn't quite finished yet. "I will," she promises, before going on for another hug. she holds her brother close for a long moment, revelling in the gladness of knowing he's close, and healthy, and grown. 

when he withdraws, she smiles, hoping this isn't the last she'll see of him for a while. "good luck — try not to fall off any mountains," she offers, glad for him. with that, she bumps her shoulder against his in farewell, content to watch him off before returning her attention to the antler, intent in bringing it back with her.