Sleepy Fox Hollow By thee, old Capulet, and Montague
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#1
All Welcome 
Making some assumptions here.
Sif wanted to go and see the ocean again, but her last trip in that direction had taken too much time and energy. And she grew anxious when she was far from @Wardruna's reach, but also when she thought of where she would stay for the winter, and whether her new friends would be coming with her to stay. It'd been made clear to her - somehow - that Wardruna's pack would not welcome them. They'd have to find their own place.

In this, Sif thought she could be of some help. She ranged the area more than anyone, and she was sure to come across something that would suit them. And, as she stood upon the ridge and gazed down into the little hollow below, Sif felt sure she'd just found their new home.

It took some time, but she eventually found a safe path down into the bowl. Once in, there was really only one thing to do: play in the leaves that the trees had shed.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#2
The sea had given her nothing. The Ravensblood wolves had been civil but cool, Varick was gone, and all others had vanished. With a final, disdainful look at the water, Snowe departed, heading inland for the first time--or so it seemed--in her life.

She found the mountains she had left and traveled southeast in their shadow, her black form moving stealthily through the trees. Though the scars would remain, her fur had mostly grown back to normal, and she was strong once more--she looked outlandish no longer. She gazed upon the crag she had descended from for a short moment, then moved on, continuing to move through the valley.

Days went by, and Snowe began to ascend the range, traveling higher and higher, over bluffs and through canyons. She scarcely stopped to rest or eat; it was as if her legs could not stop moving, carrying her far away from the ocean. She barely even breathed until the sound and smell of the sea had finally left her.

Finally, she came up a ridge and found herself staring into a small circular valley below. And she wasn't alone. A mottled brown wolf was playing in some leaves near the edge of the bowl.

Twitching her ear in some amusement, Snowe began to pick her way down, giving a short bark to the she-wolf to warn her she was coming.
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#3
The bark made her jump in shock; she'd hardly noticed anything about her surroundings since she'd discovered that leaves could be piled together to create even more fun. Her deep, burgundy eyes quickly found the dark form making its way down into the bowl. Sif nestled further into her leaves to watch, as though they could protect her from an attack if they covered enough of her.

But as the wolf drew closer, Sif's tail began to wag. It was another woman! Perhaps Wardruna had sent her, or perhaps she had simply come of her own volition, looking for a place to lay her head just the same as Sif.

"Hallo," the girl called, lowering herself further still into the leaves.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#4
As she approached, Snowe watched as the other wolf flattened herself further into the leaves, looking wary. Soon, however, she relaxed a little, even offering her a greeting. She was an. . .interesting sight, nestled here in the nearly-bare forest.

Maybe at one time, Snowe would have found the brown girl strange. But she had just endured weeks of wolves finding her strange, with her slurred speech and burn scars. There was no other thing to do but to show kindness and friendship to this she-wolf, and Snowe offered her a genuine smile.

"Hello," she echoed, prodding at one of the fallen leaves with a paw. It was dry and crumbled at her touch, making an almost comforting crackling sound. "This looks fun. Do you live here?"
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#5
Sif's impression of this strange, new shewolf only improved as she approached showing all the friendly-wolf signs that Sif had learned to look for. Her own tail gave an answering wag, and her coiled-tight body began to relax into something far less ready to bolt. Something about this woman was very open and inviting, and Sif rather appreciated it.

"Fun," she repeated, not quite knowing what was being said, but able to pick out that word in particular as the words flew by her. Sif guessed she was talking about the leaves; it made the most sense. She was better at following along with her question and tripped over herself trying to answer the nice woman. "Yes! Me an my... my friends! Come here to live." Her tail wagged again, whipping her sides in her excitement at this prospect, as well as at having communicated so effectively just then.

Her eyes slipped to the woman's scars, her expression falling a tiny bit in sympathy. "Do you... cold?" she asked hesitantly, knowing that some wolves could be a bit touchy about their scars.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#6
"Your friends," Snowe repeated, wariness creeping up inside her. In her haste to greet this wolf, she hadn't taken the time to think about the implications of rushing headlong into an unknown territory. Were these friends the girl's pack, and was Snowe intruding on occupied ground?

Still, the woman was friendly enough. She spoke with a voice that carried an accent; the common tongue was not her first language, but she was doing admirably at carrying on the conversation. If any wolves appeared and showed signs of menace, Snowe would bolt.

Her face grew a little sad as the brown female remarked on her scars, in an almost childlike manner, though she kept her smile, shaky as it now was. "Sometimes," Snowe responded. "But I'm from the north--I can handle the cold."

A beat or two passed before she realized the implications of what she had just uttered. I'm from the north. Snowe had never said the phrase before, but it came as easily to her tongue as "Hello." I'm from the north. Had she said this many times before, and only now was realizing it?

I'm from the north. Was she, truly? From the north? It was a small beacon of light in the darkness of her mind, and Snowe grasped it greedily, holding it like a talisman.
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#7
"Friends!" Sif eagerly agreed. "Girlfriends!" So many! All very beautiful! Nice and kind and together! Sif wiggled in excitement, her breaths coming a bit faster. Suddenly, she sprang from her leaf pile, sending them fluttering in every direction, a wild yip of happiness belting out of her chest. She fell back and rolled around in her dispersed pile, blissful in her anticipation of the day that they'd all come and live her with her - and Wardruna, too!

She nearly missed the woman's response in her rapture, but the sound of her voice called Sif back to the present. The dark girl sat up and gazed at the dark woman as she spoke, jaws parted in concentration.

"Fram the nort," she echoed, poorly parroting the woman's words. A moment later, intuition caught up with her. "Fram - from the north," she corrected, shimmying uncomfortably at her mistake. But she knew the north - knew the cold. It was good that the woman was prepared. "Me too," she said, although she was not from there, she had come down from that direction quite recently. "Sif," she added, realizing they'd not yet been introduced. "I im name Sif." Damn. She really needed to memorize how to properly introduce herself.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#8
Her wariness faded as the girl wriggled ecstatically in the leaves, and Snowe broke into a grin once more. Clearly, there was nothing to fear from her. The brown lady could be no more than a year old; she was the picture of youth, despite her sometimes-haunted expression. 

"Sif," she repeated, committing the name to memory. "My name is Snowe." She thought about offering the girl her other name, but decided against it. She had chosen Snowe; she had been given Miyako. She opted for the name she chose.

She looked around, finding no other souls to speak of in the valley. "Where are your. . .um, girlfriends, now?" It seemed an odd arrangement, a bunch of girls living together, but Snowe surmised it must make sense, must work, on some level.
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#9
Snow? Sif peered skeptically at the dark woman, wondering if she knew what that word meant in the common tongue. It seemed a long shot, but perhaps she'd gotten 'snow' mixed up with 'soot'. To be polite, Sif held her tongue on this matter. She was the last person that needed to be giving language lessons, after all.

The girl looked briefly mournful at Snowe's next question. "Not yet. Scatter," she explained, a tiny tremor of longing shooting through her body. "Um. New. New find," she said, gesturing to the valley they stood in. "But - soon. Move here." Sif's ears perked and pointed toward the dark woman. "Do you live?" she asked, attempting to inquire after Snowe's home-situation.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#10
Ah. So Sif and her friends had not yet claimed this valley for themselves. It was an intriguing concept, Snowe thought, to have a bunch of women living together. There was normally an even split between males and females in packs, or at least the packs she had seen here.

Do you live? Snowe puzzled that out for a second, struggling to find an answer. What did-- Oh. The chocolate girl was asking if she had a home. Resisting a sardonic laugh, she shook her head, cruel humor mixing with sadness within her.

She supposed she had had a home, once. But not anymore.

"I don't. . .no, I'm not living anywhere," she finally said, after a beat of silence. "Perhaps. . .perhaps I could stay here? With you and your. . .friends?"
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#11
Sif's eyes glowed a fiendishly at this suggestion. Of course, she'd had plans to try and sway Snowe toward staying with her since she first saw how cool she was, but it was even better that she'd suggested it herself! "Please!" said Sif with an intreating wiggle, bouncing toward Snowe and attempting to cover her chin with happy, begging kisses. "Please stay! Lonely!"

The dark girl couldn't quite contain her wiggles, and flounced away from Snowe to dance around on her own for a moment, not wanting to irritate the older girl with her jostling and jiggling.

"We are girlfriends!" she hooted, giving a final little hop before darting toward Snowe again and gluing herself to the woman's side. "What first?" she asked, gazing at Snowe with adoring expectation.
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#12
A genuine smile broke out over her face at Sif's enthusiasm, and, for the first time in a long time, she felt happiness wash over her, its warm glow filling her nearly to the brim. Wagging her tail, she indulged in a touch of her muzzle to the chocolate girl's shoulder--not nearly as intense as Sif's loving gestures, but just as heartfelt, for how rare she gave touches these days.

"Well, why not," she agreed, nodding her head in affirmation. "We're girlfriends."

What first? God, what first? Snowe had no idea what was first, next, last, or anything in-between. She had been so mindless in her travel south that she hadn't set any goals or expectations for herself. To make plans seemed almost too orderly.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, she responded, "Well, can I meet your--our--other girlfriends? Or you could take me around the valley, like a tour?"
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#13
"Girlfriends below," said Sif, gesturing back toward Rising Sun Valley with her nose. It was not visible from the hollow, but the dark girl hoped her new girlfriend would be able to correctly deduce her meaning. "We can visit," she went on, glad that those words, at least, came easily enough. "But first - find waarm. Um. Dig? Deg? Din?" She couldn't remember the word. In Fen's tongue, it was called a hi, but Sif knew that word was a greeting in the common tongue.

"Sleep place," she elaborated, hoping Snowe would catch her drift. She had a very nice picture of herself and Wardruna and all his companions snuggled up into one big, warm den. It was unlikely that all her new friends would appreciate living in such close quarters, but Sif didn't know that - to her, it seemed as close to heaven as she could possibly get.
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Ooc — Miryam
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#14
Snowe smiled in agreement. "Okay, I'd be happy to visit," she responded, her tone more amiable than it had been since. . .well, since she had woken up. The prospect of new friends was one that lifted her spirits considerably, and she was excited to meet these "girlfriends" of Sif's.

The chocolate girl then struggled for words, trying to explain what was on her mind. Dig. Deg. Din. Sleep place. . .den! "I think the word you're looking for is 'den,'" she responded helpfully. "You want me to help you build a den?"

She cast her eyes around the hollow, looking for a suitable place to carve out a place to rest. Sif would probably know the area better than she would; perhaps she already had somewhere in mind.
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Ooc — mixedhearts
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#15
This was all so exciting! Sif almost couldn't contain herself when Snowe agreed to go and visit all their besties, but managed to contain her happiness in a small scream. Her big, gawky paws tapped a happy dance in the leaves before she darted away, hoping Snowe would give chase. "Yes! Den!" she called over her shoulder, though the girl had no plans to dig if it could be helped. She would much rather find a place to rennovate than try to dig something new in the cold weather.

The girl led the march into the woods, her back legs kicking up behind her in a springy dance. "Need waarm," she said to Snowe, wanting the older woman to know that she'd be taken care of during the colder months. "Leafs. Tor gress.Fur." 

They came to a small clearing, crowned by an ancient cluster of whitebark pines. "And hole," said Sif, hastening toward the base of the cluster. After making a half-circut, she let out a triumphant, "Ha!" There, nestled in the roots of the trees, was a dark, yawning hole.