Blacktail Deer Plateau sk8er boi

backdated to early may, @Solveig @Rusalka, others welcome to join!

fastened in her jaws she carried three gift-satchels crafted of worked hides and stuffed with salted meats, fresh berries and sun-dried seeds. she'd set off with a kiss to her husband's cheek and the message that'd she return once all of the gifts found new homes and alliances were in order.

it was to the north she set her first course, aware from the wind that a pack rest near enough for a day's journey. she slowed as she came to their claim, mindful and respectful of their established borders.

she set two of the satchels off to the side while placing one neatly at her feet. a tip of her head called for the leaders of this place before she settled her muscle weary limbs and let herself fall to an orderly position upon her haunches.

a call rises, stirring rusalka out of his reverie. ravensthorpe had a visitor. unexpected and unusual. since the small batches of morningsong wolves had ceased visiting shortly after they had first established, the borders had been quiet. and admittedly, it's given rusalka a false sense of security.

with paws tied, aiding in raising his growing children, it is easy to forget that he does not live in a secluded bubble of just his family.

his path alters to intercept the stranger at the borders.

i am rusalka, greets the commander as he approaches; gaze scrutinizing her and the satchels she has with her. this is ravensthorpe. formal greeting out of the way, he turns to the path of no-nonsense. what brings you to our borders?

Skip me as needed!

Ever interested in his father's duties, Arrax followed after Rusalka's trail like a shadow as a call came from their borders. He had intended to simply tail his father for the day, to silently learn his routines, but the summons offered a far more interesting learning experience.

He approached just as Rusalka spoke, greeting the woman. Arrax's eyes flicked first from the bundles on the ground – his nose wiggled as the smell of dried meats tempted him – then to the stranger. She was a small-statured woman, very much unlike those of Raventhorpe, and he wondered at her reason for both the meats and her reason for being there.

As if to impress the stranger, the boy pulled himself upright into a tall, proud bearing to mirror his father despite his gangly adolescent physique.

a man approaches from the shadows and she rises to greet him with a courteous dip of her head. it had been some time since her days of travel and negotiation, but she feels herself slipping back into the ways as if they were second nature.

a boy appears from the foliage, young and full of puffed up vigor, and she greets him with the same well mannered dip of her snout. it is to the man that she turns her attention to settle upon, eyes calm with a civil glow.

"my name is nephele. i lead a group, yellowstone, alongside my husband in the plains to the south." she gives the man a moment to absorb the information shared thus far before continuing, "we seek good tidings with our neighbors through alliances and trade." she takes a moment to unfold the satchel and gently push it forward with her snout.

"i've brought salted meats, fresh berries and sun-dried seeds as a gift." even if she would leave without establishing neighborly trade and friendship with this group, she thought it well to not leave an enemy either, and a gift bag would help ensure this.

though it has rusalka incredibly on edge to have arrax on the borders while he speaks business with a stranger, whose character rusalka did not know ... he does not send the boy off to his mother and siblings. he recognizes that arrax is interested and it was never too early for the boy to start learning politics and how to compose himself on the borders. the first of which, rusalka was late to learn himself.

a soft smile carves itself into the marble of rusalka's lips as he notes arrax's puffed up posture out of the corner of his eye, though the weight of his gaze never leaves nephele, leader of yellowstone.

the name brings with it no recognition and so his default assumption is that they must be new; right or wrong.

your gift is very generous, speaks the leviathan, though for the moment he is content to leave the satchel between them. he would take it but it felt impolite to reach for it so early in this conversation, despite that she had nosed it nearer to him. the raven clan thanks you, he speaks for ravensthorpe as a whole then. what do you seek in an alliance? and trade? what does yellowstone lack that we may provide?

The two adults speak, the woman introducing herself as Nephele from Yellowstone. The polite dip of her head was not returned by Arrax despite the good-natured manner of the meeting. He instead was solely focused on the satchel upon the ground and the enticing smells emanating from it. Still, he stands by his father's side obediently right up until the Yellowstone stranger mentions it is a gift, and pushes it towards them.

Rusalka remains where he is, but Arrax isn't so politely restrained, and can't help but lean forward eagerly, even going so far as to take a hesitant couple of steps forward. His expression is flat, but the excitement at the gift is clear by his quivering ear tips and frantically waving tail.

They speak of alliances and trades – things the boy didn't know of nor much less care about – and he edges forward a little more, flattening to the ground as if the two adults can't see him.

there is a soft hum to radiate from her as the boy edges near, though she made no move to ward him off the satchel. it was a gift, and she would leave it to the man to decide to what use the bag would have, chew-toy or otherwise. she rounds her focus back to rusalka, a nod given in thought to his questions.

"in alliance we seek mutual respect and protection in common interest. to safeguard our homes, our families," she reveals with a flicker to the boy as he inched closer. ravensthorpe was the closet pack she knew of. should either encounter an issue it would take no more than a day's travel to reach the other's territory.

"in trade we ask for pelts, herbs and wares we otherwise would not find in the plains. we would offer you this same trade through our own goods and luxuries."

arrax, commands the cairn patriarch, having watched the boy's hesitant approach towards the gift from the corner of his eye. mind your manners, we wait to accept her gift. he aims to teach, though understands that at the boy's young age it was hard to harbor such polite restraint. still, it is a teachable moment and the commander was eager to utilize it.

to nephele, he returns his attention.

this sounds acceptable, but he would not make this decision without speaking it over with his wife. i will not make decisions without my wife. i will speak with her and seek you out in your yellowstone with our answer.

Believing his father's attention is wholly focused on Nephele, Arrax stiffens in surprise as he hears his name alongside a command rumble above him. Already crouched in his attempt to be sneaky, the boy's stomach brushes against the ground as he flattens himself and cranes his head up to look at Rusalka apologetically. He is sheepish, but cannot help the frustrated flick of his tail tip.

"'K," he huffs dejectedly, before slowly rising to sit back at his father's side. With effort, he tears his gaze away from the gift and back to the other leader. As Rusalka clarifies will he will talk over the alliance with Solveig before giving Yellowstone their answer, Arrax's ears prick, and he looks back up to his father expectantly.

"Can I come too?" he asks quietly, curious about the plains the woman speaks of.

there is an air of silent praise as the boy is corrected. she did not mind a child's interest, but there was a greater appreciation found for a firm hand than there was a spoiled brat. she nods to the man's answer, understanding in his need to speak with his wife. there was no rush to their answer, and she was confident a decision that benefited them both would spark from this conversation.

"of course, i will greet you when you seek out the plains." to the boy she offers a small smile in his regard to joining for the trip. he might make a fine scout or ambassador one day. "i look forward to your visit, until then," she presents a final diplomatic dip of her head before moving to grasp the remaining satchels. she turns to press towards the coastline, leaving a respectable distance between herself and ravensthorpe while doing so.

she is understanding of his position, and for this, rusalka is already put at ease by the yellowstone woman. arrax asks if he can accompany him on the trip, and once nephele is out of sight he turns to regard him with a careful eye.

i will speak to your mother, he sounds a bit like a broken record here: but it as like before, it was not rusalka's choice to make alone. i will make no promises now beyond that i will tell her i think you accompanying me to yellowstone is a good idea.

perhaps if they took the kids on trips like that, it might help to mitigate the want to leave ravensthorpe for extended periods of time in the future ( he thinks solely of his eldest children now and all they had missed out on ).

you may take the gift now. let us bring it to your mother and siblings.

With a nod and amicable parting smile, Nephele takes her leave. The Cairn pair watch until she disappears with the rest of her gifts in tow, before Arrax turns back to look at his father.

He paws at the ground in dismay at his answer. He should have expected as much; decisions seemed to be made in tandem when it came to his parents. Rusalka did not outright say no, however! At his mention of it being a good idea, the boy's tail wiggled, and he made a mental note to be sure he would be on his best behaviour in front of Solveig for however long it took for his parents to decide on their trip to Yellowstone.

It was then he was finally given permission to take the gifts. Arrax ran forward, eagerly sniffing the satchel all over before snatching it up and trotting after his father, tail waving proudly in the air.