Blacktail Deer Plateau i was lightning, before the thunder

Paging @Aditya, @Grayday, @Burr, and @Pema

Even with support from Aditya, the last leg of their journey was arduous, the child that they attempted to carry so carefully back home slowing their journey to the point that it took hours to reach the borders. When they did, Dawn slid down onto her chest, chest burning and exhaustion a heavy weight on her shoulders. She still managed to offer her companions a wild grin, happiness evident in the way her tail whacked the frost-covered earth, careful to avoid the child she'd placed between her and Pema.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before lurching to her paws, reclining on her haunches and immediately calling for her father, her voice breaking the silence over the plateau with joyous song, shuffling a little closer to Adi so that their fur touched, wanting to lean against him but resisting the temptation. Gradually she recovered her breath, and the little part of her that had worried for the plateau (especially in light of the new threats they had unearthed) was finally put at ease. Happiness was written across her face, even though she looked bedraggled, travel-worn and spotted here and there with the boy's blood.

the boy was young, but he wasn't that young. he was a not insignificant weight on their shoulders as they carried him down the ridge, moving carefully so as not to aggravate his injuries further. when he finally caught sight of the plateau, aditya's chest filled with relief, and his legs wobbled slightly at the thought of the end of this journey.

they finally made it down and set the child on the ground, and dawn called for her father. he smiled as she drew close to him, giving her a small touch of his nose to her neck before looking forward again, waiting for grayday.

he wondered how much dawn would choose to tell her father about the murderous wolves to the south. they had not discussed it since their talk by the lake, but the subject still hung ominously over them, waiting to be resolved. he had offered to scout for information on them--and would gladly hold that up--but they must wait for grayday's thoughts on the matter.

"it's good to be home," he said to the women, his grin growing larger. it was the first time he had ever uttered that phrase in his life.

Throughout the journey from Porcupine Ridge to Blacktail Deer Plateau, Burr drifted in and out of consciousness. He never quite reached the surface of it long enough to realize he was being borne arduously on the backs of the three strangers, but never sunk down enough to be oblivious to the fact he was moving. He imagined he was floating, unable to stop. Papa, he called out in his mind, Mom! They were nowhere near here, though. Even worse, they would have no idea what happened to him or where he had gone when they finally returned to Easthollow, and the same held true for his missing sister. He wondered how angry they would be...

These thoughts fell away as he drifted off again. When next he awoke, Burr managed to cling to wakefulness enough to lift his head from the ground and peer blearily up at the three wolves who had carried him there. The setting was completely different. Where before there had been only a rocky mountainside with scattered trees and an expansive vale below, now there was a rich forest and only darkness ahead. He tried to regain his feet, but collapsed in a heap when pain shot through his limb again. In fact, his entire body ached, and for a time he simply laid there, whimpering and sniffling.

Panic edged his breath and his voice as he eventually panted up at the three strangers and asked, in a small and high voice, "Where am I?" It wasn't Easthollow, that was for sure, but the smell of wolves was just as strong here as it was back home.

I had been a month since the scouting party had last been within Morningside's borders again. It felt as though a big weight was being taken off of Pema's shoulders. Aside from the boy that they had carried here that now rested on the ground before them. She had never missed a place more, not ever her birth pack. She wanted nothing more then to see everyone again and be welcomed back into the pack. As well as catch up on whatever she had missed, she hoped nothing to major had changed. 

Their companion had been drifting in and out of contiousness during thier journey. At first Pema had tried to talk to him, to see if he was responsive, but those attempts proved to be unsuccessful and so the ocassional moans became regular. When he spoke his first words she hadn't excepted them. She was stairing off into the pack waiting to see someone she knew. 

But once he did speak she layed down beside him. He seemed scared and she wanted to try and calm him down. "It's ok, you're safe. We brought you home with us when you passed out earlier. We wanted to bring you to a safe place where I could help you with your ankle." she said gesturing her head to his injured ankle. 

She tried to keep her voice calm but she couldn't help but have a hint of excitment in her voice as she waited for her family to appear. Her tail wagged in anticipation. 

Although he would've liked to run full-tilt toward the much-awaited call, Grayday could now move only very slowly through the trees. He was still learning to navigate with only one eye, and the pain was still rather unbearable if he jostled his head too much. Still, he knew this area well, and made it to the borders in good time. The leader came through the trees with his head held high, his ears pushed forward in unguarded joy as he set eyes on the three - all of them, safe and sound.

"I missed you," he said, going first to Dawn, but eventually moving to press kisses to Adi and Pema's faces as well. He paused when he got to the kid standing with them, his head cocking to the side. "Who's this?" he asked curiously.

Her father appeared after some time; his movements slow and stiff. Dawn's ears fold back warily, and she rose, moving to meet him. His kiss she returned joyfully, tail wagging, but stiffened when she realized the mess that was his eye. "Da! I missed you, Morningside - what happened?" She stepped back, scanning him carefully and noting the few other scrapes, the claw and fang marks. Her tail rose stiffly, and she hissed, "Who did this?" I'll kill them. So intent was she on her father's wounds that she barely noticed his second question, peering over her shoulder at the boy, awake now. 

 "Don't know his name, but he's from Easthollow. We found him in the mountains; he was hurt, so we brought him here so Pema - "  But it was no use, her father's injuries distracted her, and she asked, "Was anyone else hurt?"  It wasn't that she was unsympathetic of the boy, really, but rather the immediate issue before her stole her attention.

he knew something was wrong from a distance. grayday was getting older, but he was not so elderly as to move that gingerly across his own territory. it was only as he drew close, though, and heard dawn's exclamation, did he notice the absence of the alpha's left eye.

"haaye!" aditya barked in shock, his eyes wide as he took a step back to peer at grayday. "my god. . .what happened?" his query echoed dawn's, poor burr all but forgotten for now.

the leader appeared not to have any other injuries, but to lose an eye. . .  aditya's stomach churned with worry as he thought of the southern wolves again. had they come here and done this? were they now involved in this war, too?

his eyes shot to dawn, fear-filled. the joyous homecoming he had come to expect had vanished like mist in sunlight.

There was too much going on, and Burr was barely able to process it all. He was certainly smart enough to go over the facts in his head, but his attention was divided between three—no, four—wolves all at once. He swung his head slowly around to regard the kindly woman, Pema, when she lowered herself to his own level. There was a tremor through his entire form that seemed to suggest fear and the remnants of shock, but his voice was bold and unwavering (brave, he might later claim) when he asked, "Where's Easthollow?"

There were kisses and nudges exchanged between the others, reports given to the grizzled old grey who seemed to steal the show when he arrived, and words that he only half-listened to until Dawn pointed out that they didn't know his name. Burr felt increasingly wary about the sheer number of wolves involved with him here, but even the eldest Saefyn wasn't stubborn enough or dumb enough to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was far from home, alone and frightened and badly hurting, but Pema was right—they had helped him. Anyway, it wasn't like he'd had many good encounters with adults besides his parents, so what was the worst they could do?

He knew, but chose not to think about.

"I'm Burr," he said, and balked at the way his voice crackled in his throat. Chocking it up to pain and misuse, the boy cleared it and continued, "I fell—" but anything else he said was drowned out by the concern expressed by his three saviors for the older wolf. Obviously something had happened, but Burr didn't know these wolves and he was just a young boy who couldn't yet empathize and ended up feeling selfishly ignored instead. Someday he would understand. He ended up dropping his chin onto his legs and trying his hardest to ignore his throbbing ankle and the tears building in the corners of his eyes.

When Grayday's figure first came into view Pema's tail began to race, happy that signs of her family were still present. But it seemed strange that he wasn't running up to them with his affections. But as he moved closer it was clear why he wasn't sprinting towards them. His left eye was clearly damaged, enough that it now limited his vision to only one eye. The wounds around his eyes and other scrapes looked new, as though it had happened within a week or so. But even with the shock of seeing Day without an eye, she stood up and returned his affections saying "I missed you too. I miss everyone." She had wanted to know what happened as well, but Day need not be asked the same question three times in three different ways. The look on her face expressed her concern and desire for an explanation along with the others. 

When he asked about the boy, Dawn was quick to explain their situtaion and that he was from Easthollow. A place Pema had never been and didn't know the location of, so she was unable to answer the boy's question when he asked. But seeing all the happy and confused camotion going on around him she once again slowly lowered herself to his side. She had missed Day and the pack very much and was still present in their conversation as she look up at Day for an explanation. But being as caring as she was, she couldn't help but go to Burr's side and try to help him feel included, or at least not ignored surrounded by four wolves that he didn't know. 

She spoke lightly to him, not wanting to interupt Day once he began to talk. "It's nice to meet you Burr. Don't worry I'll be able to look at that soon. Just rest for a bit." she said when she saw him rest his head down, refering to his ankle. 

Grayday was concerned by the boy's presence. What had happened at Easthollow to scatter her children so far? This was his most pressing concern, for the moment.

"Pleased to meet you, Burr. I'm Day. I used to live at Easthollow with Valette, Keoni, and Nikai," said Grayday, choosing the names of those he felt most likely to stick around. "We'll see what we can do to set your paw right, and when you can travel - and when the weather allows it - we'll walk you back to Easthollow. But tell me - did something happen? How did you come to be so far from home?"

He wondered who the boy's parents were, and whether Dawn would mind very much if he sent her out again to give Easthollow a message. For now, he shot his daughter a calming look; he knew she might feel slighted by his ignoring her question, but he felt they ought to get the boy out of their hands before he got into the details.

This in mind, he tipped back his head and howled for Easy, figuring her presence might help to set the boy at ease. Besides, he'd need help getting to the rendezvous site.

"I've called for my daughter to come and help you to somewhere you can rest. She'll show you where you can eat and drink," he said to the boy.

Easy will probably just cameo next round to show Burr where to go, if all goes well.

Her ears flicked back in mild annoyance, but surmised if her father didn't say anything immediately, whatever may have happened didn't pose a huge danger to the pack. Besides, it was best to deal with the boy first- Burr. She turned to him and offered a small smile, but said nothing; Pema and Easy would be able to help him better than herself, anyways. She offered her father a sidelong glance, chest still tight when she looked to his injuries and wondered the state of the pack.

grayday was gracious about it all, keeping his attention on the boy and not himself. it was true to character, but it didn't alleviate aditya's concern or curiosity in the slightest. what had happened? and was grayday's eye the only casualty, or had others been hurt, too?

he kept quiet for now, not bothering the leader with any more questions. pema was comforting the boy--named burr, by his own admission--and grayday had summoned one of his younger daughters to assist the easthollow child back to the dens. aditya felt a pang as he saw the boy's eyes fill with tears; as someone who had been launched into far too many big adventures at a young age, beyond his control, he could empathize.

adi did feel bad for ignoring burr earlier, and sank to his level, after giving dawn's shoulder a gentle touch with his muzzle. he knew she probably felt slighted by grayday's avoidance of her questions, but all would be answered in time.

"hello, burr," he said, giving the boy a kind smile. "i don't know if you caught it earlier, on the mountain--my name's aditya. i know it's a little overwhelming, right now, but you're in good hands with pema here."

Pema was glad to see what Grayday was adressing the boy. Even with the long wait, they would just have to wait a little longer before they all could catch up. But it was concerning that Day didn't say anything about his eye though. Maybe he wanted to simply make sure the boy was ok first, or that he wouldn't need to over hear the details of the encounter. None the less he called for Easy which made Pema's tail wag. She had missed the pups so much in her absence and wanted to see Easy and the others so bad, but knew that if she did come, they too would have to wait until Burr got situated before being reunited. 

A quick plan was devised, heal Burr's ankle and get him back home when the time was right. More specific things would most likely be hashed out later, but for now he needed rest. Once that happened and Pema had been caught up with the business end of everything that had happened in their absense she would waist no time getting to him. 

Skipping and exiting Burr with Chelsie's permission

Easy came along quickly enough, and after a quick set of instructions from her father, was happy to help Burr toward the rendezvous site, where he would be able to find someplace to rest and (hopefully) something to eat.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Grayday turned back to Pema, Aditya, and Dawn and began to speak in a low voice. "A few days ago, a shewolf tresspassed and ran into Lavender. She's okay - but when I got there, she had Lav in her jaws. I attacked, and she took out my eye and bolted while I was disoriented," he explained, keeping the explanation as simple as possible. "There's another healer here, now. Hopefully the two of you can learn from each other, Pema. But she did what she could for Lav's wounds. It's just a couple bites on her shoulders, I think. Still... it was terrifying."

He gave a restrained shudder, not wanting to bring on the headaches that came with jarring his head. "So - what happened? Are you guys alright?" he asked, turning and gesturing them deeper into the territory. There were headed to the pack's most recent kill - not much was left, but the three would surely be able to take the edge off their hunger, if they needed to.

 How simple and peaceful had everything seemed before their mission, before the trespasser. Her gaze returned to her father's eye, and she asked, "The trespasser. Was she a loner?" It seemed possible that she might have been associated with Blackfeather, and if so, it troubled her to think that the threat may have spread already. "We visited two packs; Moonspear, and Redhawk Caldera. The fen pack was gone."  She didn't get into the details of what had occured, it seemed more fitting that Pema report on what she had learned; and there was the important matter of Blackfeather she wished to get to as quickly as possible. "The journey went perfectly fine. But - I spoke with a girl from Moonspear, the alpha's daughter. She told me that there was a pack, south of here, close to the mountains, called Blackfeather. They're kidnappers, attackers, a threat. Redhawk and Moonspear plan to go to war against them." She paused, tail twitching at her hocks. "The girl called them evil."  Evil was a word she never thought she'd hear applied to something in her everyday life; rather, it seemed a word used only in high tales and stories. Apparently, however, she had been wrong. Her gaze shifted to Aditya, resting on him a moment before returning to her father, deciding not to reveal what had happened between them on the journey, not yet. Other, pressing issues came first, surely.

he shuddered as grayday described the incident. to have such a creature lurking so close to their borders. . .and evidently still at large. thankfully lavender had gotten away okay and grayday had--merely nor fortunately, really, but with a stroke of some luck nonetheless--come out of the fight losing only his eye, not his life.

but the whole of morningside must be on alert for this ruthless woman. "what did she look like?" asked aditya. "i can keep an eye on the borders for wolves who match her description."

he saw dawn look at him after she had explained the situation with the pack down south, and resisted a smile. he knew exactly what she was thinking, and why it was important not to touch that subject just yet. instead, he focused on what she had spoken, opening his mouth to add his tuppence.

"for my part, i don't think it's wise to pick a fight with wolves who haven't yet harmed us, even if it's the morally right thing to do," aditya said, keeping his voice neutral and his body language submissive as he spoke to the alpha. "still, we should be on guard. perhaps this woman who attacked you and lav is one of them."

Easy was quick to arrive and lead Burr away, she gave her a smile before she left, happy to see that she was alright and well. But more pressing things were at hand and so Pema followed along as Day lead them to a recent kill and began to discribe the event that lead to his missing eye.

She was shocked and somewhat horrified. Day had lost an eye but to hear that Lavender had been in this strangers jaws made Pema's stomach drop. She was in no mood to eat and she was filled with both worry and anger. He said that Lavender was alright, but she had been so close to a worse fate, Pema fought back the thought of what might have happened if Day hadn't stepped in when he did. It had cost him his eye, which to Pema meant that not only did this intruder decide to attack Lavender, they were willing to put up a fight after being found out rather then flee the scene. She knew that there were such wolves in the world but to hear that one had been within their borders was far too close for anyones comfort. 

She cared very little that the pack had another healer at the moment, other then the fact that they had been able to watch over Lavender and her wounds while she was away, along with Day's eye. Dawn and Adi asked if they were a loner and what she looked like and Pema was on the same page. She wanted to know as much about this wolf as possible and find them. But rationally she knew that it wouldn't be the best idea. 

She continued off Adi's point, "Not even just her discription, any wolf we don't know. We've been lucky in the past with intruders, but this is too much. They have hurt us now and that's a whole other level." she said refering to those in the past that had accidently stumbled upon the territory or have bluntly entered without permission, but hadn't done any harm. 

When Day asked about thier trip, it seemed trivial compared to what had transipired here in their absense. Pema didn't care about her training at the moment and nodded along as Dawn relayed to Day what she and Adi had told Pema on their way over. About the wolves of Blackfeather Woods and their malicious actions and intentions towards others. She responded to Adi's suggestions, "I don't know if we have an abligation to help fight in their war, but I think it would be silly to not be prepared to defend ourselves if they decided to bring us into it. Especially if they are the ones that attack Lavender, in that case we might unknowingly already be involved." she said and cautioned to them all, curious as to how this war would effect the pack.

Day paled under his fur at the talk of war and evil. He never thought he'd see something like this, and the very idea that it was happening on his doorstep was almost more than he could comprehend. If he did not have so much faith in these three, he might not have believed them.

But he did have faith. "If war comes this way, we will leave," he said resolutely. "I like the plateau, but no land is worth our safety. Besides, we are adaptable. If the gods wanted us to stay in one place, he would have made us trees."

He shot Aditya an unimpressed look when he asked what the intruder had looked like. Obviously, Grayday wasn't the best one to ask about these things. "I'm fairly certain she was a loner, just looking to nab a meal. But you're right - challenge anyone who's missing a tail. Cat and I took hers before she fled."

He looked between the three for a moment, terrified to know that he'd sent them into danger even though they were already home and safe. "You've done well. Rest and recover," he said to Pema and Aditya. "Dawn - will you take a short walk with me?"

She dipped her head at her father's words, though she would loathe leaving this place behind under threat. They were, however, not a sedentary group, and she knew that come summer they would likely move again. Besides, "we're hunters, not fighters. it'd be best to avoid a war we have no real place in." Dawn agreed, though her hackles prickled still at the thought of simply fleeing. Still, she was not stupid, and knew that fighting would gain them nothing. 

Her father's request had her wilt a bit inside, exhausted as she was after the journey, but she said only, "of course." She smiled briefly at Aditya, knowing she'd catch him later, surely, and dipped her head in wordless goodbye to Pema, moving to follow her father wherever he might lead.

he caught grayday's sidelong look and folded his ears down, slightly ashamed. he had meant no offense to the now-mostly blind alpha, only mining for more information. still, grayday gave some--no tail--and aditya nodded, taking it all in. no tail. no tail.

"i will keep watch on the borders," he vowed, wagging his own bushy tail in turn. he gave grayday a kind glance. "it's good to see you again, grayday. my thanks again for giving me the chance for this trip."

with a nod to everyone in turn, aditya trotted off without a second glance back. he was headed for the borders. god help the no-tailed wolf that met him there.

maybe he'd go and find her.

She understood where Day was coming from. Choosing to leave the plateau rather then fight over it. But she wondered if that would be enough in an instance where they were involved. If the war did come to them would it be over the plateau, or them. If it was over them it might not matter where they ran off to, the enemy would be after them. But luckily it seemed their tresspasser was a loner and had no roll in the war around them. Keeping Morningside out of the loop and out of harms way. She hoped it would stay that way.

She took note of the females missing feature for future reference, and smiled and nodded at Adi who spoke of watching over the border. She would join him one of these days, but for now she had to take care of Burr and Lavender. "It's good to be back. I'll see you guys later." she said to them all before heading towards her den.