Phantom Hollow Learning the territory

Cogitemus had been traveling along the borders all day long, double marking some to let it be known to the surrounding packs they were official. He stopped at this one tree, once he was on a little break, he found earlier in the day. It wasn't close to the borders, so that was a good start. It was a fallen, very large tree, similar, and very close to the one he gave announcements on. It was hollowed, and large enough to fit a few adults comfortably. The tree had made a crater, so the ground under the log, made it larger. He scanned it over, ducking his head in, really nice spot. He turned back around to go scan back over the borders, hoping a recruit or two would join him so he could meet them more in detail.

Den

Sage had been wandering aimlessly around her newly found pack's territory for what felt like ages to her, but probably only a couple of hours. Once catching the scent of her male Alpha, she gained full speed, finally something to do. Her paws echoed against the dense and hard ground, the girl didn't slow until her leader was in sight. "Cog!" she said in a delightful tone. "Thank the heavens you were around," she had a tendency to overreact at times.

The man pricked his ears to hear thumping of running footsteps. He flashed his head around to see Sage running for him. She spoke, making him instantly worried. Was someone attacking the pack? What was going on? "What's wrong? Is everything ok?" He said, until he heard the tone in her voice. He settled, before giving a frown. "Sage, you can't do that, I was worried someone was hurt." he said, lightly scolding her. It was quickly forgotten, as he returned to his normal stance. "What can I do for you?" he asked.

Sage felt bad for startling her alpha for no reason, and gave an apologetic stare, but once he moved on she did as well. "I was just hoping you could put some entertainment in my day," she walked to his side and looked around. "How's life as an alpha?" the girl asked, flicking her tail side to side with interest. Cogitemus and her hadn't known each other well, but she already looked at with as a close friend.

Cogitemus perked his ears up. Someone was interested in him? Someone actually like him besides Malice? "Life is good Sage, thank you for asking. How can I help lighten your day? I know this sounds boring but would you like to help me finish digging out or find some dens our members can sleep in?" he asked. It may not be exciting, but it was a job, and it needed to be done. Plus, it could give them some time to talk.

The girl didn't mind helping her leader out, even if he wasn't her alpha she'd be happy to lend a hand- er, paw. Looking over what had the potential to be dens, she gave a slight nod before looking up at Cog. He seemed taken aback when she questioned how alpha life fared, Sage assumed it was a rare thing for him to be asked questions about himself and she would look to change that. "I don't mind, Cog. Thanks for giving me something to do," she flashed him a smile.

"Thank you Sage. So here is the leaders den." he spoke, pointing to the den-log. "I would like to but the beta den somewhat close to the Alphas, not very close. Tell me if you see something." he spoke, glancing around.

Sage thought for a moment, and walked off a bit, without a word, but returned a short time after. "There's a place not to far down there where a rock sticks out of a small rising in the ground, and has a fallen tree and another rock supporting it, it's not as nice as the Alpha's, but it's definitely worthy." She spoke, hoping to prove herself in some form to him.

The man waited for Sage to come back. When she spoke, it sounded nice for beta den. "Alright, you lead the way then. It sounds very nice." He said, letting her take the lead.

Sage began to lead the way to the Beta den, making her way through the dense forest. It took less than a minute for the two to reach their destination and she moved to her alpha's side so he would have a better look at the den. "What do you think?"

He nodded curtly. "Yes, I do think this would be quite nice for the beta den Sage. Good work." he said before dipping his head in to take a whiff. "Well, who ever lived in it before has left no traces and it seems unused." he said before taking his head out. "Alpha den is done, beta den is done, let's go make some nice ones for the middle tier. Do you want to spilt up? We have to find a spot for four nice sized ones that are fairly close together."

Cog had expressed his approval in her decision, making her tail wag. "I think splitting up would be easiest." She agreed, already moving herself in the opposite direction her alpha was facing. She felt a new sense of pride, knowing she was helping her pack in some form.

The man looked around to see a narrow passage way between two good sized hills. It seemed a good place to dig out a few dens. It seemed two dens were easily formed out of the base of two different trees. Cogitemus let out a loud bark, summoning the girl once again.

Sage hadn't wandered far and found a possible place for multiple dens, indents were already made in one or two places along the slightly elevated piece of land, before she could summon her alpha, she was called herself. She quickly dashed her way to him, beckoning to her call. "Find something?" 

She came quickly, very respectful. He pointed his muzzle to the place he found. "Did you find anything yet?" he asked, still looking around the land.