Jade Fern Grove there is a house in new orleans they call the rising sun

Maybe @Scimitar? :) Or babies?

Bazi was not a fan of Jade Fern Grove, but like an economically maimed worker bee in a dead-end job, she did nothing to change her situation. A days' rest became three, and soon, she started to think of herself as Queen of the Grove.

The trees here were tall and reedy compared to the Northwood, sheltering a plush carpet woodland flora with their fragile canopies of brilliant green. Light and rain reached the ground here, and Bazi could see the sky through the leaves. In the winter, it would look dead and grey.

The Alpha female followed a trail through the woods, pausing to sniff at faint remnants of visitors. Here and there were stronger scents, and she would squat over those spots and pee. If they were going to live here, the place had to stop smelling like a big city underpass.

Bazi finished, shook, and scratched a bit of earth into the puddle of hot pee. She only walked a further ten meters before a nose-full of a very particular scent snapped the serenity of her stroll. Wild-eyed and on high alert, she howled a summons for @Scimitar.

He could see the misery in his wife’s eyes – the unhappiness that emanated her threatened to swallow him whole, and Scimitar ached to aide her. She had thrived upon Nova Peak until Danica died, and he could not determine if it was still the death of her missed friend or the complete uproot of their home that had stirred her to withdraw so.. but he could see the distaste she gave when she looked at the area they had currently settled.

They needed to make a decision soon. The puppies were rallying – everyone’s spirits were down, but they would survive this. It all could have been much worse.

She called for him, and without pause, the man sought her out. He found her – her blue eyed suspicious, and he prowled up to her side, inspecting her quietly for harm as his nose touched her cheek. “Bazi,” he murmured, taken completely by his concern for her, the scent had not yet swept over him.

Scimitar was on the scene within what felt like seconds. Among the spindly trees, he looked bear-sized and formidable - too big for his surroundings. Bazi allowed his caress but did not reciprocate, pushing him towards the source of the smell with sharp, urgent nudges to his shoulder and cheek. "Do you smell that? That's bear. I know it." For reasons she could not explain, Bazi found herself sounding almost.. gleeful. She stared at her mate whilst he confirmed her find, ears alert and eyes wide. "We should track it." If the bear was a resident, they would have to take action of some kind.

She seemed more responsive today – but the excitement that seemed to engulf her was not news he was hoping for – a bear in the vicinity was not a good sign, given they had yet to even fully settle.
 
He shifted his weight, his nose finding the scent she reacted to, and a frown darkened his features. He gave a nod, stepping back so that the once exuberant outrider would take the lead on their bear hunt. Once found and detected, they would need to determine a course of action – and likely call for Kaskara, Kieran and Tryphon. Unfortunately, that was all they had to call upon.
 
“And if it’s a mother and her cubs?”

Even though it was entirely correct to react with apprehension, Bazi found herself a little miffed that Scimitar did not insist that they tracked and killed the intruder immediately. Younger, childless Scimitar might have thrown himself into battle without a single thought for his own well-being, and whilst this was not a desirable trait in a father, she missed it. Children had evolved them both, and neither wolf fit their new skins particularly well.

Bazi sank onto her hindquarters, breaking eye contact to look into the trees. "Then I suppose we have to give up this place too," she responded petulantly, ignoring the fact that she had been far from thrilled by the idea of settling in the Grove. "Or we chase it out, like wolves."

There would have been a time that his mate’s dripping sarcasm would have spurned his own fiery reaction, but he spoke nothing in response to her biting remark. Bazi had been withdrawn since their departure from Nova Peak that he feared if he reacted harshly to her, she might simply break.
 
Instead, they followed the scent trail, his hackles bristling as it became unmistakable that a bear indeed was within the vicinity. They would choose the resting place of a bear as their next home. Brilliant.
 
“Shall I call for Kaskara or Kieran?” He did not even bother mentioning Tryphon – he doubted the boy could handle the beast.

No response. Bazi followed Scimitar as he began to track the scent, seething quietly. The trail went north, winding its way into the older, darker parts of the forest. "No," she responded, her head level with is flank. "No need to worry them yet. Let me follow it - I'll report back." As with most of their interactions these days, this one too would end in a veiled request for solitude. 

Waah, the impending end of a relationship era. We will always have the children! D: D: D:

D:

She tried to shirk him off now, and his own flame ignited a spark, feeling her anger emanate silently form her. She tried to take the role on by herself, and the man could not withhold a bitter snort. “No, you’re not chasing down a bear alone,” he ground out, his tone clipped, but otherwise making a simple statement.
 
As if to embellish this point, the cinnamon wolf pushed past her, taking the lead on the trail and casting his eyes purposely outward through the greenery before them rather than even glancing at his mate. If she wanted to play the bait game, he was not willing to play.

Scimitar was having none of it. He shoved past, refuting her request for time alone with a growled order. Bazi rushed to catch up, her face transformed by the venom that had suddenly materialized in her throat. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do," she snarled, aiming a sharp bite at her mate's cheek as she passed him, pace switching from brisk trot to canter.

Her fury unleashed upon him with the first blow of physical contact they had in terms of aggression to one another. The moment stunned him -- the sharp bite to his face, and he fell to silence form it, reeling in the moment. She pushed past him once more, and he stared at her retreating figure with a wave of shock and rage.

Rooted for only a moment, the regal withheld a snarl, prowling after her, and not letting her from his sight. If she thought reprimanding him physically was acceptable, she had another thing coming -- but for now, his focus was upon the task before him.

It had to be, otherwise all he would see was red.. and all he would think about is wanting nothing more than to be back at that moor with the silver girl called Quill.

Concluding!

Bazi experienced only fleeting regret for her actions. She had crossed a line - the very air was thick with accusation and fire. It trailed the two wolves as they competed for dominance, threatening sparks every time one overtook the other and guard hairs brushed. There was no room to recall a time when this same sensation had represented intimacy.

In the end, they did not find the bear. Signs of its presence were scattered throughout the Grove, but there was nothing to suggest that it had taken up permanent residence. Either that, or it was very good at hiding - not something bears were famed for. 

Bazi and Scimitar took their cooling tempers in separate directions, parting ways without a word.

The stalked beside one another – one always in the forefront, and neither bending to the others will now. A petty fight, but one that would not be so easily set aside with simple words. Bazi’s sharp bite on his cheek stung – but not as much as his heart.
 
They did not find the bear – his hope was that the beast was long gone. The last thing they needed was to have to deal with that. And so the two split apart at the end of their search, not saying a word to each other. He knew in that moment he could no longer continue whatever it was they were doing – but what did that truly mean? That they split apart? What would that mean for the children?
 
What would it mean for the pack?