Bitterroot Valley not too far, or you'll be drowned

Elowyn found her way to the river. It brought back memories long past. A happier time. She dropped her head to the water to drink, lapping it up slowly, savoring the moment. Once she was done, she took some time to walk along the river's edge.

The young wolf was on her own again. It hadn't been long since she left her family. That is, the found family that she had enjoyed for some time. Her birth family had been separated for over a year.

A low, sad howl escaped her lips. It was almost involuntary. The howl welled up in her chest and then came out in a wave of relief over Elowyn's body. She continued walking for a bit before she found a spot to lay down near the river.

2-for-1 deal on Big Sky joiners maybe?!

Miska, too, had found his way to the river – and was assessing whether to cross or follow when a sad snippet of a song brought his dark ears high upon his head. Just the one note, high and sweet and lovely. No encore. Downright rude, to tease a man like that.

Miska followed the river and the wind to see the songstress the pair had conspired to conceal.

"Oh-HO," he exclaimed when a slip of a girl came into view, curled up by the water's edge. Miska took brazen strides towards her - the only category of step in his repertoire. If he ever tip-toed, he would do so boldly.

"Make more sing, small girl," the great black wolf demanded, grinning broadly. "You sounding happiest peaceful dead!" Or like an angel, but such a thing was not part of Miska's world view.

Elowyn hadn't expected anyone to hear her howl, she hadn't seen anyone in some time, and once it had escaped her lips, she partially didn't want anyone to hear it.

She watched the river flow for a bit, losing herself in her thoughts, memories of a different river. Then, she heard a voice, demanding she sing more. She stood and turned to the voice to see a larger black wolf watching her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't sing much," she told him. "Maybe another time, though." Her ears twitched as she spoke and her tail flung about behind her. "I'm Elowyn," she introduced.

He had expected to be rebuffed, insulted - chastised for making demands of a stranger. Glared at, at least. Miska was quite handsome wolf, but there was something uneasy about his presence. His wolfish grin had a shark's teeth.

"Perełka, no, this is crime," he insisted when the pale beauty introduced herself instead. "El-o-wyn must sing for Miska." He took a heavy step over the  invisible line that demarcated her personal space from his, and looked down at her expectantly.

hehe hope this is okay!

the call drew him from the trees—soft, lonely, carrying over the water. sega followed its echo along the riverbank, his steps quiet but sure, the weight of him filling the cold air.

when he broke through the brush, his eyes found them: a pale girl by the water, a dark male too close beside her. sega’s presence was enough to shift the air—broad shoulders squared, tail lifted in quiet authority, golden eyes steady as the tide.

you sing, he said to the girl, his voice low, rough-edged but not unkind. wind carry far.

his gaze slid to the dark male, calm but firm. no need push.

then back to her again, softer now. i am sega, he offered. you rest. river safe.

a faint nod followed, the gesture...chief-like. for now.

Elowyn got nervous as Miska got closer and demanded again for her to sing.

The sight of another male wolf made her feel less uneasy, but...not quite. He introduced himself to her, and she nodded once. "I am Elowyn," she said, moving away from Miska a bit, as long as he didn't follow her.

"I'm sorry if I am in your territory," she told him. "I didn't realize, but apparently, my howl carried on the wind. I don't want to be a bother."

There - a nervousness, a barely perceptible hitch in her breath. Miska took a greedy whiff of Elowyn's fear.

Before he could press her further, they were joined by a third. Miska gave Sega a quick once-over - his twin in stature and opposite in color, except for matching gold eyes that met over Elowyn's delicate head for a brief, tense moment. Don't push. Miska licked his shark teeth.

"Bracie Sega," he declared jovially, and the tension eased as he took a step back from Elowyn. "This good wisdom. Must en-coo-rage thing of beauty, yes? No force." Miska waited as the two wolves introduced themselves, noting but unfazed by Sega's subtle exclusion of him from the exchange.

To Elowyn's apology, the dark wolf said, "Claim of bracie Sega is not being complete." His nostrils flared to sample the air once more - there was a distinct palette of scent there, but it was muted. "You are needing bodies, yes? You take us. I am strong wolf, can protect. El-o-wyn is can singing." He fixed Sega with a pointed stare. "If river is for now also being safe for Miska."

he moved closer, shoulders broad as boulders, breath slow through his nose. the wind caught in his fur, carrying the scent of the river and elk both.

you not bother, he said to elowyn, voice deep and rough with his thick accent. this place— he motioned to the open valley behind him, —great sky. home of hunters. we take big prey. elk. buffalo. sometimes more.

his gaze slid to miska then, the weight of his stare steady but not hostile. you both stay, he went on, tone firm but not cruel. river feed all. a pause, then the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth, a ghost of humor beneath the stone.

but, he added, head tilting toward miska, you no chase girl. she sing when wind tell her to.

Elowyn was thankful another wolf had stepped in to help her. Though she maybe could have managed without Sega's help, those chances were pretty slim if Miska had meant harm.

Thankfully, it seemed as though he was just excited about her singing. 

"Maybe I can sing another time," she told them. "I just don't sing too often." 

Her attention turned to Sega. "Great Sky is your pack?" she asked. She hadn't realized there was a pack nearby.

Miska's unsettling smile split his dark face again, but the voice that charged past the ivory guards bordered on jovial. "It is decide! I stay," he declared, and took a demonstrative step away from Elowyn. "Perhapsing you make chase on Miska one day; am very strong, obvious very handsome," he told her with a wink, mostly tongue-in-cheek, then inhaled deeply of the cool air as he turned his head slowly from her, to the valley, to its guardian. "I walk," he informed Sega with a nod, "Touch ground, taste wind. Great sky will being my piękną kobietą, my beau-ti-ful woman on this day."

the dark wolf’s grin was sharp, but his tone was not cruel, and so sega let it pass like weather over stone.

you walk, then, he said, the words rolling slow, broken, but firm. great sky watch you. she not kind if you make trouble. there was a flicker of dry humor at the edge of his voice, gone as quick as it came.

he turned then to elowyn, the gold of his eyes softening. great sky, yes, he murmured, nodding toward the wide stretch of land behind him. my valley. my hunt. his chest lifted with quiet pride. we take big prey. elk, moose. live honest.

a pause, his ears tipping forward. you sing when ready, he told her simply. no force here.

Elowyn felt less nervous around Miska after Sega arrived. She still didn't like his demeanor, but she felt protected. Her gaze shifted between the pair as they interacted. Though it wouldn't bother her to sing again, it wasn't her strong suit, and she felt awkward when singing in front of people.

When Sega said again that she could sing when she was ready, Elowyn bowed her head. "Thank you," she told him, again looking between him and Miska. "One day, I promise."

To her promise of a song sometime in the future, Miska offered Elowyn a gentler smile than his toothy default. He genuinely did love songs - music of any kind, from wolves or whistling wind. There were soft furnishings in the dark chambers of his heart.

He aimed a nod at Sega before he departed the group, heading north at a casual saunter.

sega watched miska’s shape fade into the treeline, his golden eyes steady until only the hush of wind and water remained. then he turned back to elowyn, the tension in his shoulders easing, his expression unreadable but calm.

come, he said, voice low, carrying the weight of quiet authority. we go. others wait.

he motioned with a dip of his head, turning toward the valley’s heart—the old rally point, where the trees opened to a wide stone rise overlooking the misted river. his pace was slow enough for her to follow easily, his steps sure and soundless in the damp earth.

fade here?

Miska's smile changed, softened. Suddenly, Elowyn felt better. Then, he turned to leave. This confused Elowyn just a bit, but her own tension eased as she watched Miska walk away. Her gaze shifted to Sega, just quick enough to notice his shoulders untensing.

Elowyn gave a nod at Sega as he turned, "Okay." She followed after him, curious about the new place she'd stumbled onto.