The Sentinels for your vulgar delectation

@Raven had been among them only a short time, and already eilidh was reporting upon the girl's good nature and willingness to learn, as well as the innate knowledge held by the former denzien of the caldera. lasher was pleased to have raven among his ranks, and added this reason to the plethora he had already filed aside.

snow fell softly that late afternoon. malachi had slipped away in the last week -- over this was the druid rather worried, but the man had found his way back to them before. sanuye had also gone, but as taltos had never interacted with the creature, he did not feel the same warmth toward the lost wolf as he did toward malachi.

in time the man halted his patrol and faced toward the sea, wondering if the woman who blue willow had recently returned from tending had survived, or had merely been made comfortable before her demise. the thoughts of raven returned, however -- presently, taltos tilted back his crown and called lowly for the girl, determined to see how she fared and if she intended to return to the caldera.

*praises the gods that she has been blessed with an ebony thread OMFG*

Raven had settled in relatively well, all things considered.  In the week or so that had passed since her arrival at the boundaries of Donnelaith's lands, she had already begun to put on a bit of the weight she had lost.  Some of the timidness and fear that had rendered her nearly braindead at the borders had dissipated, revealing a glimpse of the bright, inquisitive girl that resided beneath.  Though she remained somewhat reclusive, she was quick to smile when her path crossed with that of another, and she explored her new homeland relentlessly.  She had known the Caldera's most secretive places inside and out, and -- having never had the courage or motivation to leave the packlands herself -- she hadn't ever truly experienced the awe and exhilaration of discovering and exploring unknown lands.

She had spent most of the day moving about the lands, but after hearing something scuffling beneath a heap of snow -- a mouse, perhaps -- Raven was in the process of scooting around and digging when she heard a soft, mellifluous voice rise on the quiet air, a subtle yet unmistakeable request for her woven into its velvety notes.  She stared off in the direction from which the howl had come for a moment, a perplexed look on her face.  There was something familiar about that voice -- was it Lasher?  Whatever she'd been hunting in the snowdrift was in luck today, for she promptly abandoned her work and trotted off to respond to the call.

It only took a few moments to find him, and she approached him with all due deference and respect to his position.  She was the lowest-ranked vassal in a pack run by this splendid and handsome man, and she wanted him to know that she understood her place on an instinctive level.  She approached him with shoulders hunched, tail pressed to her hocks but still wagging amiably, and eyes carefully averted.  She greeted him with a few light, fleeting licks to his chin before retreating a few steps, curious but quiet for the moment.

oh thtoppit u :D <3

raven arrived promptly -- he suspected there was peregrine to thank for her mannerliness. allowing the girl but a few moments of the ritual deference, he in turn pressed his lips against her cheek, by way of assurance and greeting. the sable child seemed well indeed, hale and fed; eilidh was a gracious hostess indeed. nevertheless, the druid posed the classic and common question all the same, his body flowing into a more inviting pose to further soothe the girl. "how do you fare?" his murkwater eyes found the gilt gaze of the disarinno.

in time would he tell her of wildfire, for surely she wondered after her sister's well-being, but he would not broach the subject of the caldera until raven herself spoke of it. dipping his head, lasher invited the girl to move at a comfortable gait alongside him, for he intended to see about a coyote that had been spotted not far from their easternmost marker.

such things were nefariously mischeivious and destructive, but he was more concerned in regards to the danger they posed to emaleth and deirdre than the thievery they wrought. a lone coyote could not hope to stand against a pack of wolves twelve strong -- a pack of them was a different matter altogether. unbeknownst to lasher, an ugly group of rogues would soon gather on the beachfront, creating a greater threat to his children and land than that of a coyote.

for now, his attentions were upon the beast, but his ears were cupped to hear raven's words, if she had any to proffer.

pardon the general crappiness here -- I'm sick and exhausted and have a fever and it's late.  x_x

Raven was once again surprised by the gentleness and serenity exuded by the alpha male.  He was as different a personality from her father -- the only alpha she had ever known -- as one could possibly be, and while it was truly a strange thing for the Redhawk girl to get accustomed to, she liked it.  That a pack could be led by such a quiet soul was a new idea to her and Raven couldn't help feeling drawn to him, for in many ways they were quite similar.

She was, of course, completely oblivious to the history that her new alpha shared with her father, as well as the rapport he had with Wildfire.  Circles within circles, everything was connected.  It was a thing she would learn as she grew older.

She fell into step alongside him and their pace was comfortable as he asked her how she was doing.  "Good," she said simply with a small smile, chancing a glance up at his face before her amber gaze resumed its vigil into the forest around them.  "Eilidh showed me around and has been generous with food and...everything, really."  Eilidh was wonderful.  Raven felt like she could come to be good friends with the girl; despite the stark contrast of their pelts, they really had quite a bit in common.  

Having never been the greatest conversationalist, she fell quiet after that.  However, somehow the silence between them wasn't awkward or uncomfortable at all.

if u call any post of yours crappy again i shall punish u <3 i have a hangover so i feel your pain lolol

she was brief and shy, like eilidh was before she grew to trust a creature. lasher hid a small smile and pressed onward. his words were for her ears, but the weight of the caldera was upon them, and so he knew he must speak, lest they come of their own accord. the pair mounted a small rise, and the druid then cast about for the scent of the coyote. old spoor was all that lasher discovered; he surmised that the beast had drawn close to the borders, but then decided that it would not breach the line for fear of death, and departing.

flicking snow over the remnants of the odor with his muzzle, lasher turned then to raven. "i am very glad you have come to live among us. your sister is a member of the nearby moonspear pack, and through your aunt osprey does she have ties to us also." his eyes shone with a warm light, for raven reminded him of all that was good in peregrine; it seemed that those parts had come together in the graceful being that was the quiet young wolfess, for he sensed a great presence to her.

"but i must know," taltos continued, trudging onward at a more comfortable pace now, his muzzle lifted into the clean cold of the wind's lash. "do you intend to return unto them? for if that is what you desire, i shall take you in springmelt." he did not wish for raven to feel trapped at donnelaith, lost with no notion in what direction the caldera lay.

They traveled in companionable silence for some time, the sounds of the forest around them the music by which they conducted their patrol.  Raven was uncertain what it was the alpha was looking for, but after a while they came across scattered signs of some lone straggler and Lasher seemed satisfied with what he saw.  As they resumed their walk, he then turned the conversation in a surprising direction.  Surprising not because he wondered if she would leave them -- she had figured that would come up sooner or later -- but because of what he knew about her without her even having told him anything.  

She looked at him with eyebrows raised, the surprise she felt etched in the fine lines of her young face.  "You know Wifi?"  A dumb question, truly, but she wasn't always a shining example of lupine intelligence and grace.  And he had mentioned Moonspear being "nearby"; she wondered just how near it was.  She would love to see her sister again.  "You...know my dad then?"  The name of the aunt he spoke of stirred no memories in the girl; if Osprey had ever known her, it had been too far back in Raven's youth for memory to have retained it.  But she truly had not expected to stumble upon an alpha wolf who knew her family and, apparently, knew it well.

the child did not answer, but seemed genuinely surprised at the mention of her sister's name from taltos' lips. having been estranged from the caldera for some time, it did not shock the alpha that raven was far removed from its activities. "yes, and yes," the druid rejoined gently. "i met the pair of you some months ago -- wildfire called herself attica and named you haunt," lasher continued, tipping a wink at the sable wolf alongside himself.

in a comfortable silence he pressed on. the mention of peregrine did not pain him now, as it had done so before, but it still caused a flicker of the old bitterness in his breast. its wormwood taste was meant for fox also, but a daughter of that wretched bitch now had been arranged into his ranks, and she showed none of the selfishness which had marked your mother. "once upon a time," lasher mused, hearkening to the same thing he had told wildfire those months ago, "i loved your father."

Raven was truly surprised at Lasher's comment that they had actually met before.  She could recall no such meeting, but then, much of her childhood had been fraught with trauma and loss.  She had spent far too much time in a state of grief and confusion, so one really could not blame her for being fuzzy on the details.  She believed him, though, for Wifi had indeed called her by her middle name on several occasions.  

His revelation that he had once loved her father was even more startling.  How had fate led her to such a wolf?  Of all the places she could have stumbled upon in this vast wilderness, how had she managed to find the one man with such connections to her own family?  Truly, the stars must have aligned in her favor.  "I...I don't know," she responded in an almost distracted tone, answering his original question.  Did she miss her family?  Of course she did.  Her spirit still felt the pain that a limb feels when it is torn from the body -- raw, throbbing red, disconnected, lost.  Perpetually feeling like she was at the edge of a cliff, just centimeters from falling.

And yet, in some obscure part of her there was excitement at the possibilities.  Back at the Caldera, she was the alphas' shy daughter.  She was the quieter one, the weaker one, the one whose subtler, more intellectual skills might not be as valued as those of the stronger, more physical members of the pack.  Here, she felt her talents might carry more weight.  The alpha female was a medicine woman, their daughter training in her footsteps, and though Raven hadn't quite figured out Lasher yet, she knew there was something very different about him as well.  

Hence, her indecision.  "Could you ask me again in the spring?"  She wanted to make something of herself, and somehow, she felt like Donnelaith was just the "clean slate" she needed.  She missed her family, but she didn't want to make any hasty decisions just yet.  It was clear from Lasher's words that he knew where the Caldera was.  Perhaps he could help her find her way there just for a visit sometime.

to his surprise, raven did not immediately exclaim that she wished to be taken back to the caldera. she showed some hesitation, which caused some wonderment in the man. perhaps the land for which peregrine had abandoned the plateau had not been so pleasant as he first assumed. no matter. raven was here now, and so his focus was given over wholly to the girl. 

sensing that the subject was an uncomfortable one for the ebon child, lasher nodded. "of course," he murmured softly, and decided that to be the end of their conversing on the matter. though aria had given up the trade, donnelaith now had three healers. he considered spreading the word of this, for much could be gotten in trade for the skills of a talented herbal worker. perhaps when eilidh and raven had grown more comfortable in their craft would he do so.

"recently, blue willow and casmir were called to the coast to attend another pack who was not in possession of a healer. a woman there had been attacked by a puma, and torn badly. she was mended, but i do not know how she fares now. had you been in attendance also, what herbs would you have brought to clean and dress the wounds?" lasher's tone was light-hearted as he queried raven, revealing to the child that he expected nothing of her, only to know how she might respond.

they spoke for some time before fading into a comfortable silence, and soon took fond leave of one another.