Swiftcurrent Creek and the place you need to reach

smoke and ash is painted liberally throughout her fur, and her pawpads are cracked and bleeding. burns and missing patches of fur brand her limbs, yet there is stark relief at finding here the trail of Timberlake. but then comes panic when a familiar border burns across his trail, and she is made still. she howl, quick and urgent, and resigns herself to wait. her paws burn in more ways than one, and her patience erodes quickly as she stares out after his trail.
@Constantine @Durnehviir

I'm not really sure how long Timberlake's been at Swiftcurrent, so just making an assumption here. Let me know if it needs to be corrected.  :)

She left her young ward under @Akiri's watch, and head toward the Emberwood to hunt. With her went young Viinturuth; their numbers lower than ever, Durnehviir felt it time for her offspring to begin making themselves useful. Their training would intensify in the coming weeks but for the time being, she was content to have them observe.

"See these tracks?" Durnehviir paused to observe a trail, made that morning by a travelling herd, "they're fresh. You can tell by th-" An urgent summons from the territory outskirts caused her ears to stand tall atop her lovely crown and, with a beckoning chuff to her pale son, she hurried toward the source of the howl.

The scent of smoke hung heavy in the air as the russet Alphess approached, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. Her heart skipped an uncomfortable beat, for it had been a number of days since the river delivered such precious cargo, and with the surefire signs of fire on the ashen stranger had come seeking information on his whereabouts.

Selfishly, Durnehviir felt loathe to relinquish the child, and chose to say nothing until the other confirmed her suspicions.

Rumbling softly at Viinturuth to stay back, Durnehviir closed the distance between herself and the wounded she-wolf, her feathered tail arched and her gaze questioning.

He followed his mother quietly, large alabaster ears pricked forward keenly to drink deep any information she provided. When they paused to examine a trail that the Alphess found, Viinturuth moved in close to hover his snout curiously over the cloven prints on the damp earth. Just as the russet adult began to explain her findings, an unfamiliar voice rose from their territory borders.

Durnehviir rushed toward the source, and the pallid boy was quick at her heels. His dark gaze settled on the sterling stranger as they drew nearer, and obeyed his dam by easing his stride to remain at her flank. It was there he waited in silence, twitching a whisker at the scent of smoke and ash that clung to the outsider's fur - a reminder of the dulled aroma that had tainted the infant his mother had brought home some days before.

I was hoping to backdate the thread somewhat - maybe a day or two after the fire? if that works for you!
a woman painted in fire approaches; a few short moments after the thought of simply beelining after Timber's scent crosses her mind. "a boy came this way - a few months old. I've come to take him home."  being courteous is forgotten in her burning need to find her brother, and it is only after a beat that she elaborates. "I'm Dawn; his half-sister, one of the leaders of Morningside. our territory burned, and he fled here." she doubts a panic-stricken boy launching himself into one's territory would be missed, and spares a glance at the pale youth by the woman's side, gaze flicking back to the woman in an instant.

No problem!

There were no formalities. The rugged wolfess immediately provided a reason as to why she'd come, to which Durnehviir swivelled her tall ears forward with intrigue. As expected, the stranger had come in search of a missing child - the dark boy she'd found clinging desperately to the riverbank only days before.

Her chest swelled with the mixing of her feelings. With her own offspring well on the way to adulthood, her newest ward sated her yearning to mother such little cubs once again. In large part, she wished to turn Dawn away with the lie that their pack had found no youngster on their land and rear him herself. The very tip of her tail flicked and, reminding herself that the pup had a real family who'd clearly been worried for him following the tragedy that scattered them, she dipped her muzzle shamefully politely.

"I am Durnehviir," she introduced, and pointed her muzzle in the pale youth's direction, "and this is my son, Viinturuth." Her proud head turned, champagne gaze seeking the sterling wolfess' features once more before she pressed on with more serious matters. "We found a child here a couple of days ago - he's resting with our own. You should come with me."

With her invitation that the Morningside female enter the territory, she moved to begin leading her in the direction of her own family's hollow.

Viinturuth maintained his silence, tufted white ears trained on the ashen stranger as she announced her intention for calling at their borders. He hung back as his mother requested, lingering curiously at her russet flank with curious mahogany eyes tracing the unusual marks that marred the stranger's hide. He'd never seen such raw looking flesh on his own kind, and he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick with uncertainty.

When the crimson leader spoke, Viinturuth turned his gaze upon her and offered a thin, awkward smile as she introduced the pair of them. She confirmed that the smaller child had come to the Creek and should Dawn have looked to him for confirmation, he would've nodded in agreement. Dutifully, he padded after his dam as she made to lead the rugged Morningside female into their territory, sure to include a soft "he's okay," in attempt to assure their worried guest.

she found it distant curious that a woman painted in crimson could produce a son mantled in snow, but the thought was largely ignored as the woman confirmed her hopes. relief crested and broke like a wave against rock, and the woman dipped her head in turn. "thank you."  she committed the names to memory, stark contrasts to her own family's habit of short and simple titles, but would turn over their oddness later. the boy was offered a slight smile despite her intent focus at securing the boy, a soft wave of her plume before falling in step behind the mother, softness vanished.

Upon arrival to the Frostfur-Mayfair densite, it was @Akiri who first exited hollow to greet them. Durnehviir waved her tail in response as she moved in to bump her snout to the golden female's forehead. "Thank you," she told her friend with a hint of a smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes, "for your time, and helping with the boy. His sister," she motioned to their ashen guest with a cant of her pale muzzle, "is here to take him home."

Durnehviir excused he blonde wolfess, who quietly and politely left the group to deal with the matter in private. As she took her leave, the russet Alphess padded to the den's entrance where she paused, chuffing for @Timberlake's attention. "There's someone here to see you," she encouraged gently, waiting patiently for him to appear.

His tail wagged when Whisper exited their family's den, though he did not move in to greet her as he normally would. This encounter, with a leader of another pack within their territory, seemed to require a certain air of professionalism. For his mother, Viinturuth stood back and merely smiled for the golden she-wolf should she look his way, then observed quietly as she took her leave.

He lowered his haunches to the ground, burgandy eyes fixed to the hollow's mouth as his dam beckoned the littlest of their den-mates outside.

They had roused Timberlake from a nap, so the chocolate-furred boy emerged from the mouth of the den blinking and yawning, his hair tousled. It took a few moments for it all to sink in, and his eyes widened at the sight of Dawn. He raced toward his cousin--well, "raced" being a clumsy trot--and cuddled into her, enjoying taking in the familiar scent.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?" he asked, pulling back and staring up at her, inquisitive. He would have thought Daddy would have come for him; Daddy was always out hunting, after all, and knew all about the places around here. And surely Mommy would have come with, right? There was always Adi or Sunny to watch the other kids.