Bitterroot Valley Hubba bubba

For @Vega! I hope now is a good time for it. :)

With Phoenix Maplewood sufficiently doused in the combined scents of its wolves and the pack relatively well-settled, Saena spent more and more time away from the territory. While she was familiar with the north in general, she wanted to know the surrounding area a little better. From Nochtli and Citali, she knew there was a pack upon the nearby glacier. She didn't intend to approach them at any point. She had allies in Scimitar and Bazi and in Luke, so she didn't need further aid, nor a reason for someone else to be after her.

Her mind also lingered on Wildfire and the possibility that Fox and Peregrine were not planning a war. Up until now, she'd been paranoid, believing any second that they would descend on her and kill her for existing. If that was true, then their children would be trained to attack her on sight, but that wasn't the case. Furthermore, Wildfire had seemed visibly shaken by the information. While Saena partially knew what she'd said wasn't entirely true, it was as she remembered it at the time, and only later did further details surface from the swamp of her memory.

Pushing aside thoughts of her half-sister (they actually weren't related except by a very distant thread, she suddenly realized), the alpha female continued her walk east, past the stream she'd romped with Luke at. Only when she reached a natural radish patch did she stop, lowering her nose to sniff curiously at the clustered leaves poking out haphazardly.

Vega had yet to return to Bearclaw Valley – nor held any intention to do so. She considered herself a lone wolf once more, and with each passing day, the scent of the Valley wolves faded even more from her fur. She sought more from life – a pack that would be familial, rather than judgmental and distrusting.
 
She moved closer to the north now, exploring parts of Teekon Wilds that she had never seen before. The valley that stretched before her now did little to hold her attention, but it made for easy travel.
 
It wasn’t until her eyes fell upon a pale form – one seemingly interested at something upon the ground. Bright highlights of cinnamon could be seen upon the female form – and even more interesting to the ebony wolf, the missing part of her tail. Ushering a low bark of greeting, the she-wolf kept her distance, uncertain to how the other wolf would react to her presence.

Root, whispered the wind, though she knew it wasn't really the wind. Saena pricked her ears and turned her head, catching a glimpse of a faint, smoky jack rabbit in the corner of her vision. When she blinked, it was gone. She frowned in its direction, then shook her head. Why the spirits showed themselves and bestowed unhelpful wisdom on her at seemingly random intervals, she would never know. It was the first time one had "spoken", though she remembered vividly her dreams as a child and wondered if it was the first time they had communicated.

Where the rabbit once stood, now a wolf approached. She'd considered lipping one of the brightly coloured leaves, but knowing that it was the root that was useful prevented her. Maybe the leaves were poisonous. She couldn't think of any other reason why she, a naturalist with little interest in botany, should care that it was a root. Anyway, the approaching stranger drew her attention away from the wild radishes long enough for her to forget that plan entirely.

She was a dark woman, lofty and graceful for it. Even from a distance Saena could make out the lighter hair adorning her throat and underbelly. Much unlike the short, small but almost stocky Redtail. Far more beautiful, at least in figure. The alpha female slowly raised her head and swiveled her ears forward, gauging the other woman's intentions with the aid of an almost aloof posture. Rigid, but not so much as to suggest a threat. Cautious, if anything.

Indeed, her posture almost welcomed the other to come closer while simultaneously warning off any undesirable behaviour. She was, after all, an alpha wolf who exuded some amount of confidence; she relied on it to at least deter aggression if another was considering it. Vega didn't seem to be, for she barked across the distance, and Saena responded with a curious whine to announce that she was friendly enough.

Vega regarded the stranger with hidden weariness, and yet, the pale creature seemed welcome to her presence, and so the swarthy female would lope closer, closing the distance between them. Her stance was neutral, and she did not attempt to pretend she was not studying the intricate details of the others ears and facial markings. How exotic.
 
As she moved closer, the ebony rogue allowed her muzzle to cant slightly, her tail giving a quick sweep through the air to signify her nonthreatening stance of their meeting. She had not settled in Bearclaw Valley for long, and the natural instinct of a lone wolf and the troublesome lifestyle had not fled from her. “Hello,” she offered gently, giving a nod. “Do you know the name of this place?” Teekon Wilds was a vast area – and there was much to discover still.

Both wolves remained wary of one another, but Vega wandered nearer and Saena began to relax her stance. By the time the dark-haired woman was within speaking distance, the Redtail held herself completely neutrally but for the forward pitch of her ears, which spoke of authority. She had none here, she knew—a fact she was coming to accept more and more as she got older and put the events of her past behind her—but it was a part of her being. She would always stand with authority now.

She cast around them when Vega asked for the name of the place, and shrugged. "I've never been this far northeast," she admitted, "so if it has a name, I haven't learned it yet." Maybe she would make up a name for it, but all she could think of was roots, and only then because the ghostly hare had told her that much. A sidelong glance at where it had stood confirmed its disappearance. Not that it would be awkward otherwise. She doubted Vega could see it even if it had stayed.

"Maybe you can come up with a good name for it," she suggested, looking back at her present company and noting now her chartreuse eyes. Rare. Hawkeye's eyes had been that green, and she found herself wondering if this woman knew her wayward adoptive mother. Unlikely, she decided. Hawkeye was nowhere to be found. "I'm Saena," she offered, putting her thoughts on hold in favour of interaction.

The hint of dominance was shown by the other – Vega neither denied or accepted it, and instead chose to ignore it. If it was enough submission for the other, she would know soon enough. One ear would flick in the direction of her newest acquaintance, though her eyes were sharp as they scoured the land before them in turn. Unknown land – not a new thing to the lone wolf. At the suggestion that she could name it, the dark female gave a light shake of her muzzle, not caring enough to do so It was probable she would not be back here very much. “Not my forte,” she offered, her tail giving an idle flick before she settled her gaze back upon the pale wolf.
 
She introduced herself, and Vega’s nostrils flared as she matched the scent to the name. “Vega,” she returned, curious to how else she could this this wolf to her advantage for information. “Are there packs near here?”

Not my forte. Mine either, Saena seemed to say with a nod of agreement. The place would go nameless for now, though she would probably refer to it as "the root place" going forward. Vega offered her name then, a simple and pretty name, before launching another question. This one was more interesting, and not only because Saena could actually answer it.

"At least three," she replied, "one on the mountain range, and mine and my allies'. My pack has newly claimed the thick woods southwest of here," she gave a brief sweep of her muzzle in the general direction, "and the other is still settling, so I'm not sure where they've chosen to go. We both lost our homes in a fire a month ago." There was no harm in telling Vega this. For all Saena knew, the older woman had been by the charred Redtail Rise and Nova Peak already. Maybe she would even recognize the scent of their former inhabitants, though Saena suspected smoke was all anyone smelled when they went near there.

"There might be more that I'm not sure about," she warned. "Why, you looking for one in particular?"

If anything, the she-wolf could at least give her the details she truly longed for. She could care less about the name of a place – but where the packs were? That information was golden, in her eyes.
 
Her eyes drifted to the direction of the mountains, noting that at least two of the three packs were disrupted.. having lost their territory in the storm. It would seem Bearclaw Valley had been lucky in comparison to others. Teekon Wilds surely was a cursed land – did she truly want to settle here?
 
“Sorry for your loss,” she offered, her tone sincere. She had lost enough homes to know the emotional turmoil it could cause.. far too many years she had drifted as a lone wolf. “None in particular – I’m looking to settle somewhere,” she spoke, her voice drifting to a vagueness. She was more open about her desires now – only a few months ago she would have answered such a question far more carefully.

Saena nodded mutely. There was no sense crying over spilled milk, but she still missed her home at Redtail Rise. She missed the hawks circling overhead; the wind rushing over the face of the cliff; the view, most of all. They'd been able to see the ocean to the west, the tops of maple trees to the far east. The glinting glacier north of that. The splendid rise of Nova Peak. All had been visible to the wolves of the ridge, and now their visibility was a fraction of that. Still, she supposed they were safer in the trees and they were nostalgic for her.

What brought her focus back to Vega was the mention of looking for a home. "What sort of place are you looking to settle in?" she asked with renewed interest, making almost no effort to hide her intent. After all, she was the alpha of a pack of dwindling adults. Recruitment was tough and any opportunity was golden. She would realize that even more once she finally figured out just how many packs surrounded her own, and for the first time she would view her neighbours as rivals as well as friends.

The question proposed was simplistic in nature, though Vega was at a loss for how to answer. Landmarks held no interest to her, and yet she could not glean Saena's true meaning. "The kind that treats their members as family," she determined then, keeping her own answer in line to how she felt as a basis. Bearclaw Valley had alienated her in the one true moment she had been helping them -- perhaps something had happened to them to make them so distrusting.

But if aiding to carry their pups to safety had not been able to instill any confidence of her intentions toward them, then she did not know what could.. and the mistake of joining them had been remedied shortly after when she had become a lone wolf once more.

This time, finding a home would be taken with caution, rather than giving unearned trust so quickly.

The kind that treats their members as family. That was an awfully strange answer. Saena had only limited experience, having been born in one pack and led another, but from that limited experience she expected that all packs acted as family. Blacktail Deer Plateau certainly had except for the outliers, like Koda, that acted like strangers. Redtail Rise had as well, and it was her hope that Phoenix Maplewood would continue that trend. A pack that didn't treat each other as family was hardly a pack at all.

It made her wonder why Vega would answer that way at all. "Did you know a pack that didn't?" she asked with a furrow in her brow, unable to quell her curiosity. Such a pack must not have many in its ranks, and if Vega knew of it, then no doubt being alone was better. "I've never known one that didn't. Mine certainly strives to, as all should." What other selling point did any pack have? A pack was a pack was a pack, in Saena's eyes, and it boiled down to the kind of company you liked to keep. Those of Phoenix Maplewood were certainly misfits in the eyes of society, but all were united by the desire for a new life apart from their past. Saena herself did a poor job of letting go, but the others were admirable in their pursuit of beginning fresh. Yet they were family in a hodgepodge sort of way.

Saena seemed confused by her answer – imparting to Vega that the she-wolf before her likely hadn’t traveled as much as the swarthy female had. IN truth, her traveling was becoming old quite fast. Her shoulders lifted in a small shrug. “My previous pack – but perhaps I’m just sensitive,” she offered lightly, though it would have been a lie to say she had not felt like her hope of finding a home with them had been dashed by the display of two of their males.. and a rather panicked and ornery Beta female.
 
Vega had actually liked Scarlett, though. She was perhaps a bit too chipper for her taste – but kindness was certainly not overrated.
 
“But it is the reason I’m traveling once more,” she added as an afterthought. She was weary of sharing information to strangers – it was far time she found a place to call home.. whether another pack fully accepted her and trusted her, or she created her own.

Almost the second that Vega revealed her former pack was the source of her desire, the maplewood's lead bitch stretched out her neck, seeking a scent wafting off the other wolf's coat. There was nothing telling and certainly familiar. If Vega had left her pack recently, she'd either gone to great lengths to remove their scents from her coat or she hadn't worn them heavily to begin with. Either way, the female was really and truly a lone wolf again. Bearclaw Valley remained hidden from Saena, for now.

"I'm sure that's not it," Saena offered. It was easy to think that all packs were familial, but Saena didn't think Vega had a reason to lie. Even if it was a lie, it was a convincing one. "Though I've never heard of a pack that doesn't treat their own like family, it probably happens more than we know." She couldn't say much. She'd been in exactly two packs in her life and one of those, she led. Having been bereft of a stable family for the majority of her life, Saena saw her pack as a second chance at it. Maybe others weren't so invested.

"Maybe you could find what you're looking for with us," Saena thought aloud. "We're not very big but we've been through a lot together. We watched our home burn down, found a new one. Haven't been there too long yet, so there's still lots of time to break in. It's definitely like a family, and there's no reason someone couldn't join that family." Pups might've complicated the matter, since pups drew a very evident line between who was trusted and who wasn't, but the alpha female was too young to breed and the amazons had about as much interest in males as they did clods of dirt. They only had each other, which Saena felt fostered the sense of family. The thought of joining a family that was tightly knit together by the loss of a home—nevermind that Citali and Nochtli weren't part of it then—was intimidating, but Saena hoped Vega thought otherwise.

Vega remained relaxed in her posture – she was in no position to make challenge to anyone, let alone the kinder female before her, and so as Saena tipped her muzzle forward just so to seemingly take in the scents upon her pelt, Vega’s wolfish brows lifted aloofly – almost amicably. “Bearclaw Valley,” she notified, in case the red-tipped female was curious. She could not imagine the stranger wanted to know in regards to what they had just spoken of, but more likely to grasp the potential locations of her neighbors.
 
It was then the woman offered her a home, and the dark she-wolf felt frozen for a moment. Before her stood another chance at what she wanted – and yet she had only just met the female. Raziel and Kove has also seemed welcoming at the borders when she had joined the Valley – and then the next time she had seen the pale man he had threatened her.
 
It only proved how first impressions were not something to conclude upon.
 
“What are.. what are your members like?” She was hesitant, and the worry she felt flashed briefly in her green gaze before being stifled under a stoical mask.

Bearclaw Valley. She'd heard naught of the place and couldn't even have placed it in relation to her own pack. That was probably for the better, she thought. It wouldn't do to have non-wolfish wolves for neighbours. If they were capable of treating their own like outsiders, she couldn't imagine the attitude they would have toward those outside their boundaries. They might even give Redhawk Caldera a run for their money in that department.

She shook the thoughts away with a gentle shake of her head and cocked her ears for Vega's question. "Varied," Saena answered. "Our alpha male, Reek, is fun-loving. Sometimes a little bit of a prankster," she added, fondly remembering how he'd sent Oliver off to find nettles for no reason at all, though the thought of Oliver was tinged with melancholy. As far as she knew, he'd died in the fire. "We have Nochtli and Citali. I think they're sisters but I've never actually asked. One's a great healer, the other a great tracker, and both are wonderful for advice. The latter's sometimes a bit grumpy but she means well and they're both wise as all hell. Arion, the resident hothead, is our primary warrior. He can be a bit of an ass but it's usually all in good fun, and he's loyal to a fault. There's also Hawk." She paused here, then rolled her shoulders. "Hawk's new so I don't know much about him.

And myself, of course. Not too interesting compared to the rest of them, but I'm our main gamekeeper." At your service, she almost tacked on with a cheesy grin.

Saena seemed to know her wolves in a more intricate manner – something that pulled a longing in Vega, Her tail gave a light sweep through the air as she contemplated – knowing that even the brief descriptions of the pale she-wolf’s pack mates could not bring reassurance to the uncertainty she felt. Yet she had leapt in to two other packs without much thought – and thus far held no luck.
 
She didn’t know what else to do – aside from creating a pack of her own, the ebony wolf was at a loss. With a small nod, she bowed her muzzle more respectfully now, submitting to the wolf who would now be considered her dominant female. “I would like to take you up on your offer,” she spoke, her tone hushed as she felt a twinge of nervousness flutter within her.
 
This would be the last attempt to integrate to another’s ruling. If it failed.. she would seek to start her own empire.

Whoooo! I'm titling you up now. :D Vega gets a slight bump in the ranks off the bat since this was done via a thread~

Vega's acceptance and submission was unexpected. So much so that Saena blinked and didn't say anything for a few beats when the tall female spoke. When the initial shock of it wore off, she did manage a broad grin and promised, "I'll do everything I possibly can to make it as unlike your old pack as possible." If it meant Saena herself would work with Vega closely to help her integrate and feel more at home, she had no problems at all with that. As it was, the pack was small and the members fairly independent, so the alpha had an abundance of time for newcomers.

"Let's go home," she said, hoping Vega would take her up on the offer to walk back together. It would give Saena a chance to show the dark-haired she-wolf around, and it would also give her an opportunity to get to know the newest Phoenix wolf, as well as to share a little of her own backstory.

Vega’s ears fell back to her skull at the graciousness offered by the red-eared female, and lowering her muzzle to respond in turn to the dominance the woman before her now had, Vega offered only a swift nod, rather than words in return to the finalized offer.
 
She followed after Saena – uncertain of where she going, but the Alpha stirred a certain peaceful response in the ebony woman, and she found herself pushing away her uncertainties.. if only for the moment.