Herbalists' Cache You have a lot of great moves but mine are better

She had come from further southwest along the coast, so it stood to reason that she should head further inland if she wanted to discover her former pack mates' fate. Smash considered continuing in a northeastern direction but she decided it would make more sense if she checked out the surrounding territories, widening her net depending on what she found. She began with the nearest, a wide and open plain, yet found no clues.

Weary from travel, her body demanded rest and so she slept in a small forest not far from the mountains. When she woke in the morning, her body made another demand of her: she needed to eat. Smash managed to kill a rabbit, which she dunked in one of the woodland's streams before devouring. Rested and fed, she then began plodding almost directly southeast, unknowingly heading directly toward the neighboring marshland.

Depp and Sen had parted ways again, covering more ground for potential members of their still-in-progress pack. He had been travelling Teekon in case he found another territory for their pack instead of Broken Boulder, and also in pursuit for pack members. He technically had four others, but one being a co-alpha, and the other being a pup, he needed two more to actually create Seadog Sanctuary.

In his travels, he caught the scent of a stranger and headed their way, changing his leisurely strides to a quicker pace, he gained speed and soon caught up with the new wolf. Slowing down, he approached the girl, holding a neutral stance,  and flashing a grin onto his face. "Hello, there." 

A swampy scent suddenly filled the air and Smash slowed, wondering if she should actually swing back north now. She didn't feel like wading through a bog for one thing and, for another, she meant to travel in a wide circle around Redtail Rise. Yes, it was definitely time to pull a U-turn and head in a different direction, thank you very much.

She had gone no more than twenty steps when a wolf suddenly appeared, all black fur and almond eyes. Smash stopped, eyeballing the handsome fellow and even managing an easy grin in response to his amiable greeting. "It's Here, not There," she quipped, chocolate tail waving as she shot him a good-natured smirk. After a pause, she added a smidgen more sincerely, "Actually, it's Smash."

Before they could engage in small talk or whatever passed for conversation between two perfect strangers these days, Smash asked, "Redtail Rise—mean anything to you?" Cut right to the chase.

He smirked at her words, and admired her alluring body. She was quite the beaut, as in Depp's mind. The Sparrow moved closer towards her, but not too close, unsure how she would react.Smash, at first he had taken her words as a sexual innuendo and was confused, yet soon realized it was her name, how interesting. Before he could bring up his initial reasoning to find her, she cut to the chase of her own needs, Redtail Rise. "What about it? I know a bit of the territory." Depp explained.

"Now, it's my turn." Perhaps they could go back and forth with their initial reasons to speak to each other.  "Ever considered joining a pack?" He asked, hoping for the answer he had been searching for. He definitely wouldn't mind such a prepossessing girl in Seadog Sanctuary.

He came closer, invading her space a little bit, yet Smash didn't flinch or bat an eyelash. "There used to be a pack there," she answered him, "before it looked like a burnt turd. I'm trying to find out what happened, where they went." Her orange eyes flicked to his, capturing his gaze, darting back and forth as she tried to read any familiarity or answers there.

She didn't find what she sought, however, and in the next breath, he declared it his turn. He came on strong, this one, didn't he? Smash's eyebrow rose a little, the corner of her mouth lifting too. "Actually," she replied, "I have!" She paused, then continued, "I once joined Redtail Rise. More recently, I joined—actually, rejoined—Shiprock. 'Fraid I'm already spoken for," Smash said with a regretful little frown, letting him down easy.

"Not to worry," He replied, showing off his smile. She seemed to try to let him down gently, but he could have handled her lashing out for no reason and walk away with a happy attitude. So she was searching for the past pack, and already promised herself to another, interesting indeed. 

"I'm almost done with my own in the first place," Depp wanted to seem like he was fine on his own, but also to comfort her incase she thought her joining was crucial. 

Ah! Sorry for the short post

He offered her an easy smile, letting her know he didn't mind her rejection. His next comment threw her a little. Smash really didn't know what he meant by that. But she supposed it didn't matter. It was nothing personal, she simply wasn't on the market for a pack.

"You wouldn't want me anyway," she went on lightly, "as I come with baggage. The four-legged, wag-tailed, poop-breathed kind." The she-wolf paused, wondering if he would pick up on what she meant. "My mate," she added brightly, just in case, "and my kid."

But that was really neither here nor there. "So you don't know what happened to them?" she asked, just to be sure. "I had a lot of friends there and I just want to make sure they're okay," Smash explained, canting her little brown head, wondering if might know something, anything, that could point her in the right direction.

He was interested in her goal to find this long lost pack, which may not be long lost to Teekon but it seemed to be for her and her family. Her comments made him smile faintly, already forgetting that she had denied his request for her joining his upcoming pack. 

Her way of describing others reminded him of himself, gaining her brownie points in his mind. Depp wasn't sure if they were to withhold a lasting relationship, friends and such, or not. He did look forward to their conversation though. "Nope, I know nothing, I'm newer to Teekon myself—you seem to be more familiar with it than me though," The Sparrow explained, not necessarily feeling the need to apologize with his lack of knowledge on the subject, but not happy he couldn't help either.

"What's the pack called?" Perhaps he would have heard something of it, if it were given a name.

Although Smash had already mentioned the name of the pack twice, she didn't bat an eyelash as she replied, "It was just Redtail Rise, after the territory. Nothing fancy. I'm... not sure that they would have kept that name, if they relocated. Which I'm hoping they did, considering..." So perhaps looking for the pack by name wasn't the best idea. But maybe dropping some other names might help. "The leaders are Reek and Saena. Ever heard of 'em?" If those didn't ring a bell, she could always describe them. Both of them were pretty distinctive in their own ways.

It probably would have been polite to inquire more about his pack or, y'know, get a name. But Smash truly wasn't on the market and she had sort of a one-track mind at the moment. She was raring to find out what had happened to her former pack mates. She just wanted to make sure they were okay, wherever they were, and not crispy wolf jerky.

Depp was the type to glaze over a book, only reading small parts and creating a summary in his mind, that's essentially what he does with conversations too, unless it was a topic of large importance, so it was common he would ask a question already answered by another. He was often patronized for it, but occasionally it would be left alone, such as she had done. Again though, his question was only to prove how useful he was, which wasn't at all. Shrugging slightly and giving a bit of an apologetic look, he continued on. 

"So far I've only come across one pack, and that being Sleeping Dragon up by Broken Boulder, but otherwise I can't be of much help." 

It was pretty clear he wouldn't be able to help her, though of course Smash didn't hold it against him. "Hey, man, no worries. Thanks for trying anyway," she said to him with a good-natured smile and a wave of her tail. "I think I'm gonna keep searching. Take care... and good luck with your pack!" she thought to add, flashing him another toothy grin before making her exit, continuing southeast.

Thanks for the thread! \o