Broken Boulder where the river narrows

I just want to go, Laurel said to @Xan after Merrit had told them the news of Valette's death. Not many were left. If Easthollow had been more than mere shreds of Valette's left behind family, then maybe she would've stepped up to take its helm. As things were though, not enough wolves were left and with winter in full swing she needed to find a safer place. Xan was the only one she took along. Valette and West were the only ones Laurel'd gotten even remotely close with; and now they were dead, and so Easthollow had fallen.

Their path weaved northwards. They passed Legion, but Laurel did not want to return to the rats that had turned her away when she was high pregnant, saying they held no space for her children there. Instead they continued, until they reached the borders of another pack. Laurel and Xan halted there. Let's see what they have to offer here, Laurel said as she stared into the lands ahead. She then lifted her nose to call for leadership.

AW, but tagging @Mahler for visibility!

staying vague till the raid outcome can be plotted

mahler's body protested viciously that morning, for he was not a young man, and neither had rivenwood killed in largesse. whatever could be found was given to the young ones first, and snowbound, he had not been able to search for marble.
there was a call upon the wind, a lull in the snow. the gargyole appeared over the small rise leading away from the boulder. his pawsteps were wearied but stoneflower eyes wore curiosity — a breath spiraling out as a plume of steam. mahler regarded the arctic man and presumably his smaller hazel-eyed wife with a long look. "this is rivenvood. i am mahler, the graf. vhat can i do for you?"

posting again to avoid going inactive - feel free to pop in at any point @Xan!

They did not have to wait for long before a wolf showed up. Laurel eyed him cautiously, but she lowered her body in submission nonetheless when he showed up. These were not the times to be arrogant. She had little left, and what she had she preferred to keep. She glanced sideways at Xan briefly before turning her attention on the pack wolf that came to greet them. Mahler, he introduced, of the pack Rivenwood. Rivenwood sounded nice; kind of like Easthollow. Perhaps it could offer some of the same things. She hoped it could, for however much she had taken Easthollow and Valette's unending kindness for granted, now she missed it all. To think she needed to grovel before this man she did not even know to get a place in his pack sickened her, but Laurel swallowed this along with her pride as she offered him a friendly smile.

Nice to meet you, Mahler. I am Laurel, and this is Xan, here she gestured at him, We are formerly of Easthollow. Its leader has passed away and there were not enough of us left. We're looking for a home. Maybe it could be Rivenwood. We can hunt and we'll work to earn our keep. She looked at him, her face turning more serious as she said the last sentence, and waited for his verdict. It was the dead of winter and they needed someplace to stay.

Normally Laurel might ask what this pack was about and why she should grace them with her presence. What did they have to offer? But not anymore. Such grace and dignity had fallen off her over the years and over the many, many months of hearing his voice hiss on the inside of her skull.

Oh, don't pout, I've been so good to you. Nobody likes an ungrateful little wretch. I have given so much in return, my darling.

the leader's tail flared at his haunches. he investigated them both with a glance minutely softer. they had lost their home, and while the dust of time had perhaps swallowed any mention of easthollow from his memories, mahler knew the loss. "there can be a place for you here."
they were in need of a home, and rivenwood was in need of hunters. the only difficulty he could foresee was the season to come, with sequoia and praimfaya first claiming such rights. and it would cause dissent in the ranks to grant that here. mated couple or not. 
"ve are a small pack. but i look forvard to the spring. children." he looked with a gentle pointedness between them both, not wanting to ask impolitely after their plans, but needing to know so that he might calculate it against the number of adults that had stayed through the winter.

Laurel looked visibly relieved when he said that there could be a place for them here, at Rivenwood. It sounded so quaint and picturesque, and so far, despite his funny accent, this Mahler seemed like a right saint; much like Easthollow and Valette had been. This was all in hindsight, of course, that Laurel realised she hadn't appreciated the place enough. Great. That's great — thank you so much, Laurel said with a relieved smile on her face.

Mahler mentioned they were but a small pack, and that he looked forward to children in spring. Laurel hesitated a moment as she glanced at Xan and then looked back at Mahler. Are you expecting any? she asked politely. We... We would like to start a family here, if that's possible. Laurel waited for his response with bated breath. She figured she would look into it later, but here she was, and here he'd asked. She might as well answer and find out right away what her new leader thought of it.

mahler's eyes shifted to the great pale man, who had been silent for the duration of this meet. aside from stigmata, mahler had not shared a pack with another man who had sired his own children. howl was no exception; though he had come to and fro, he had not been part of sagtannet. 
this year stag might have entered fatherhood.
pain clutched at him.
"none yet and none planned, for myself," mahler chose to say. "i had five last year." astraeus counted always in that number. "i suppose i might rest this year, ja?" he chuckled. "prove yourself to us, and i vill grant vhat you seek."
the freedom of the immediate suspension toward his own edict pleased mahler, and worried him. but he would not take back what he had said.
the gargoyle gestured southwest.
"ve are in the midst of moving from this place to the bypass. there vas a pack there. ve escorted them avay," mahler added, for it had been the briefest of skirmishes to solidify his claim. "it is larger and can accommodate more easily the lines that may begin in rivenvood this season."

Laurel kept up her friendly demeanour when Mahler mentioned he'd sired five children in the year past. She could not help but wonder if they were all from the same mother. Five! There was an impressed smile on her face. You sure do deserve some rest. Perhaps her demeanour might be strange to Xan, considering how closed off she had been for a long time. She hadn't needed to express herself delightfully in the depths of Easthollow's safety. Now, though, she was too aware that nobody would wish for someone gloomy like the depths of her own heart. She needed to pretend in order to survive.

Mahler then mentioned they were moving to the Bypass. There was a flash of thoughtfulness on her face as she tried to remember -- wasn't that where the Legion was situated? -- and thought the fates to be on point once more, considering the rest of her former pack had moved there. She nodded when he said that the other pack had been escorted away (where to, she wondered?) and said, That sounds lovely. I'm looking forward to checking it out myself.

he nodded, his smile warm upon her and thoughtful as he shifted it to xan. perhaps he was not one such for words. it did not matter; mahler did not accept wolves into rivenwood for the purpose of conversation. but laurel seemed to have brightened, and for this he could only credit the pair as a wise choice.
"please settle here for the evening. i vill take you there in the morning, if you vould like." had he known of her previous connection, he might have engaged her in a bit of revelation about it; as it was, mahler only waited for the gentle woman to speak anything else before he nodded to xan and set off along a deer-trail.

We would like that very much, Laurel answered to his query, and she set off into the territory, gesturing for Xan to follow. Let's find a place to get some rest, she told him, suddenly a lot more weary and exhausted from pretending, and once they'd found a decent place with some shelter she was quick to drift to sleep; by his side, but never touching him.