Phoenix Maplewood You've got a big heart

@Wraen was as good as her word, picking up a (very excited) Maia when she was ready to start their scouting trip.  They went northeast, and Wraen set a quick pace, though Maia was sure after a while she took pity on her sister and slowed it down a bit.  She wasn't as accustomed to these distance travels.

"So, have you been out here before?" Maia asked as they reached a forest, pausing briefly to admire the intense foliage above them.  It was nice to be in the shade.  The forest was a stately one, and if they had to pick a spot, a forest was up there on Maia's list of wants.  Nothing against mountains, but she had always just kinda loved trees.  They reminded her of home.

"On this side of the mountain range - half of my time. But I use to hunt closer to the rocks," Wraen explained, beckoning in the direction, where their home lied. It had been wonderful to get a break from her duties as a provider for the pack and do something different for a change. Holidays with Maia had proven to be the right thing so far.

"This far - once or twice. Though, if I remember correctly, I met here a pudgy weirdo of a wolf, who screamed at me, when he saw me," the details of the encounter were very muddled, because it had not been something very important and she had turned and left the odd wolf soon after running into him. 

"Let's have a look," she told, after she had swept her gaze around the maple trees that had begun to change their colors from green to various shades of orange and red. "It does remind me a little of home. You know - where parents live," she remarked, as they walked among the trees.

their claim on the maplewood was still tenuous, but seeing as it was their default home after the fire, aditya felt more protective of the place than ever. still, it was difficult, converting the space into something more permanent for morningside. many were still recovering, he assumed, and it fell on him and the other healthy members of the pack to mark the borders more strongly.

evidently the borders were not yet strong enough, for a gust of wind brought the scent of strangers and the sound of voices to his ears as he patrolled. bristling slightly, he increased his pace to intercept them before they could go deeper into the forest, weaving through the narrow paths he'd come to know so well. they came into gradual sight through the brush--two of them, both young women.

aditya slowed and chuffed, chin lifted in cautious question as he came to a halt before them. they smelled like the mountains, but from a pack he did not know. his eyes flickered between the pair, unsure of whom to address. "what's your business here?" he inquired steadily, voice carefully treading the line between a greeting and a warning.

Maia barked out a laugh as Wraen brought up a 'pudgy weirdo' screaming at her.  It was a pretty funny picture.  "Hopefully he isn't still around, don't need anything screaming today."  Especially if he was crazy.  Though she had no doubts she and Wraen could take him.

"It does, kinda."  She had gotten a little bit of deja vu walking here; it was different enough to not be the same, but similar enough to bring back memories.  "Do you ever miss it there?" She asked, but was interrupted right after when some random dude burst in.

Maia wasn't big on nosy, so presumably before Wraen could handle it in a more mature manner, she came back with an immediate "What's it to you?!"  Bonding, and exploring, jeeze.

"Well, now that there are two with us here - I would not mind meeting him again. Having two tough wolves coming onto him would actually give him a reason to scream," Wraen replied, smiling and bumped her hip against Maia's. 

"I am so busy that there is hardly any time left to miss things," she shrugged. "But sometimes I wish they weren't all the way far away, but closer to us. So that we could go and visit them anytime," she said. That would be convenient - especially now, when walking in the leader's shoes had turned out to be more complicated than she had anticipated. 

And this was, where the reminiscence was cut short, because a big, burly wolf with agouti pelt appeared seemingly out of nowhere and demanded to know, why were they here. Wraen shot Maia a worried glance, when the curt and cheeky answer escaped her lips, then she looked back at the man. "My name is Wraen, this is my sister Maia and we come from Sunspire mountains," she introduced herself in a polite manner, to treat any damage that might have been done already. "We are scouting for a new land to settle and have nothing but peaceful intentions. May I know, who you are and what is your claim?"

the girl's clipped response sent his ears flat against his skull, but they slowly sprang up again as he took in her youth; she might not know better, and he had just taken them by surprise, after all. the older of the two then spoke, in much more measured tones, and he nodded, mouth relaxing the slightest bit as he heard her out. that was better.

"aditya, leader of the morningside pack," he responded, dipping his muzzle in introduction. "we relocated to these woods after a fire ravaged our home to the west. i understand that our claim is not as strong as it could be; we are still recovering from our losses."

too bad for them--they would need to move on. after the trials of the past moon, aditya was not willing to give up his treasured maplewood for any reason. he felt bad, in a way, to be so obstinate on this issue, but there was no choice. the morningsiders were comfortable here; they knew these trees almost as well as the plains.

She caught Wraen's look and didn't say more, instead listening as she smoothed it over.  She didn't know why this wolf would be all up in their business... they weren't bothering anyone.

Unless of course they lived here, which... ok yeah that made more sense.  This place was pretty, she was definitely disappointed.

She bit her tongue and looked at her sister, the more experienced ranger.  Did they leave? Did they see if they could pass through?

"Lovely to meet you - Aditya of Morningside," Wraen replied and dipped her muzzle politely, relieved that Maia kept herself quiet now and also giving a quick side glance to remind the younger sister about good manners in terms of body-language.

"I have friends from your pack - Sunny and earlier in the spring another man by name Sebastian was heading your way," she had not thought about the two for a while, but now - hearing that fire had destroyed their home - she was concerned about their well-being. It would be a shame - indeed - if the world lost two such good people.

"I hope that you all made it out safe?" she asked then and after hearing the answer, went on to elaborate the subject of Sunspire's eventual move to this side of the valley. "I understand then that this forest is claimed, but - in case my pack decides to move somewhere in the vicinity - would you be so kind to tell me an estimate of the land you use for hunting? And - if there is any hope for future friendship between the packs and maybe becoming allies?"

his ears swiveled with interest at wraen's mention of sunny and sebastian, though his face darkened when he thought of the latter. "sunny is safe, if quite burned," he said softly. "sebastian. . .is still missing. we haven't seen him since the fire." it didn't mean that the man was dead--but aditya's hope for his survival, and that of the others gone, grew slimmer with each day they did not return.

"we lost some. whether they're dead or simply not here--i don't know," adi admitted, with a shrug of his shoulders. he felt completely powerless when thinking of all that had transpired, how there was no way he could have stopped it, even if he'd tried. "as for hunting. . ." he gave a ragged sigh, eyes flashing around the trees.

truthfully, he hadn't thought much of the future past the next moon or so. they would settle here, sure, but adi didn't have time to ponder logistics. right now, every day was survival--carving out a new life for themselves in the maplewood. where they would hunt they would hunt was not yet a question: right now it was simply how much.

"there is plenty of hunting in these woods," aditya said, looking back at wraen and maia. "but we have many young wolves to feed, and the plains are no longer a viable hunting ground. i can't guarantee we won't venture out in search of game--to the bypass, maybe, or the grove beyond.

"friendship is a much easier promise," he added, face breaking out into a smile.

What a bummer of a conversation this was!  Maia felt bad, but since she didn't know literally any of the wolves they were talking about, she paced around behind Wraen a bit, looking out.  Really was too bad these digs were claimed, but she guessed they really weren't that great anyway.  Probably a way better spot somewhere else, right?

When he finished, she couldn't resist interjecting a bit.  Just a bit.  "And you wouldn't have to be, like, the only ones using those places aside from here, right? Like if we ran into you hunting, and we were hunting, you wouldn't make us leave?"  As long as they weren't super mean about the surrounding hunting spaces, maybe they could take a peek around here.  Might be cool to have an alliance right?

Maia voiced a valid question - Wraen was impressed and showed this by offering a nod of approval to her younger sibling. Given the history between Sunspire and Moonspear and the latter's intolerance of seeing anyone in their hunting ground, this was a good thing to find out, before they decided to settle down anywhere near.

"I can't say for sure that my pack is going to settle in the immediate vicinity or somewhere else, but if it is the former - perhaps - me and my fellow leaders can come here and discuss the terms. If there is need for that," she added. "Rannoch and Terance are two others - if they happen to knock at your door and I am not with them."

his eyes drifted toward the girl as she spoke, frowning a little as he thought of the incident with ikkanattuk. they couldn't afford to repeat that--not now. he would rather share hunting ground than make another enemy, especially one likely stronger than morningside. aditya shook his head, turning toward wraen as she, in turn, spoke.

"it is neutral ground--we can come to some agreement," he responded, once the two sunspire women had said their parts. "come visit if and when you do settle. i would like to meet the other leaders." a weak smile flickered over his mouth at the thought before it faded again, leaving his face blandly impassive.

Oh cool, she'd asked something and gotten an answer! A bit of pride lit her up then, just a moment; it was nice to feel like a real scout, helping Wraen with relations and all that jazz.  Even if what she did wasn't totally impressive, that little spark of purpose would build over coming weeks and make her try a little harder to make a spot for herself in Sunspire.

"Awesome!" She responded enthusiastically, though she couldn't know if the meeting would be awesome or not since she wasn't a leader.  She guessed it would be though?

At any rate, she felt the conversation coming to a close, which probably meant they were gonna have to turn back.  Despite his talk of alliance, he didn't seem to keen on them goin any further into this new digs of his.

"Then it is settled. I will inform my fellow leaders and we will arrange a meeting, when the time comes," Wraen concluded, happy for the very civil way their conversation had unfolded and resulted in something that she was looking forward to in the future. 

"We won't waste any of your precious time anymore. Please, give my well wishes to Sunny and Sebastian," with this she turned around, beckoned Maia to follow and both of them continued their scouting mission elsewhere.