Overture Downs You're part of a machine

@Terance

The gamma had been making more of an effort to explore the places around Easthollow now that she felt more comfortable with pack life. She wished it hadn't take so long for her scarred psyche to adjust because she had found so much beyond the borders of her home, and she regretted not having seen this place in the spring or summer. She had next year, though. For now, she didn't plan on going anywhere. 

As Brynn moved through the meadow, her paws crunched slightly on the dead grass, and she lifted her muzzle up to sniff the air. She was surprised to discover the fairly recent scent of multiple wolves. They didn't smell familiar like the wolves of Bearclaw Valley, or the pack that live by the creek. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she began walking again. As she moved further across the plains, she kept her nose to the ground, taking in as much information as she could so she could report back to Valette.

again terance left the safety of the still in-progress borders. they had worked hard to mark them well, and it was becoming quite clear that there was a claim, but it was still a new thing. he knew mostly everything that was around... at least, the basics. two packs, the one next door was east hollow, the other he had not yet visited but knew to be indra's home. he kept trekking, hoping to find absolutely nothing noteworthy-- except maybe a herd or something. it would only prove their home safer. 

but terance spotted a bracken coated she-wolf with thick fur, good for winter. she was well groomed-- terance wasn't sure why he was making note of this. she smelled similarly to aerasha-- and valette-- so he assumed this woman was from east hollow as well. his nose twitched as her observed her from a distance, her body turned away from him. and then he let out a chuff, his tail swinging amiably at his hocks.

I can post-date this if needed!

Her steps halted as the chuff reached her ears, and she lifted her head to look in the direction of the sound. Her pale yellow gaze fell on a black, heavily-scarred stranger, and she lowered her head a little before turning to face him. She was never quite prepared for the awkwardness that came with interacting with strangers, and she didn't think it was something she'd ever get used to. Still, she moved a little closer so that she could maybe introduce herself. Hey, she offered, stopping when she was close enough to comfortably speak to the dark male. As usual, she shuffled a little nervously on her front paws and averted her eyes, unsure if she should continue speaking or wait to see what he had to say. She finally settled on silence, lifting her gaze to meet his as she waited for him to speak.

"you're from easthollow," terance commented, offering a small smile, but nothing more expressional, "my name is terance-- formerly of sunspire, we've relocated next door, as lost creek hollow." this was easy enough, he thought, but he wondered how easthollow would take the news. they were awfully close-- but, to be fair, their packs were in alliance... it was like one large, joint pack. almost. 

he hoped this was all the information she'd need to relax, she seemed a bit nervous. terance inwardly wondered if it was his appearance. he knew his scars sometimes forced him across the wrong way to strangers, but terance was as docile as they come. at least, until something forced him to become aggressive-- but never had terance ever started it. 

if you'd like to!! <3

She dipped her head in agreement when he commented that she was from Easthollow. He must know other wolves in her pack to be able to tell that from her scent, or at least that was what she was assuming. How else would he know that? Her ears perked at the mention of Sunspire. She hadn't ever met any of their allies from the mountains, and she had definitely not heard that they were relocating to the valley. Interesting. I'm Brynn. Um, welcome to the valley, she said, but immediately regretted it. Welcome to the valley?? Had she really just said that. She looked away, cheeks heating. 

In an attempt to gloss over her awkwardness, she quickly added, I haven't heard anything about you guys relocating. I hope everything is okay. It was a little more nosy than she liked to be, but she needed to make sure the didn't need help or something, since they were allies and all.

as brynn looked away, an obvious bit of embarrassment shown by the way she averted her attention, terance's head fell gently to one side, smile deepening slightly. "thank you, brynn," he said in a light purl, his tail waving, "the mountains just weren't suitable for raising children, and our alpha pair felt safer in a more secluded location." it was true, but he didn't mention the food shortage. it had leveled out anyhow, terance had begun to fill back into his bulky frame anyhow. 

"we've mostly settled, all of our wolves have arrived," he added, filling her in on one smaller bit of information. 

then, thinking back to the last easthollow wolf he'd met, terance frowned slightly, his brow furrowing. "i asked someone else to pass that information on to valette, but she seemed..." he trailed off as he tried to think of a polite word, but, finding none, he finished with, "spacey. i'd hope you could double-check with her?"

She looked back at the apparently kind male, nodding her head in response to his thanks. She listened to his answer to her question, glad he didn't seem to mind her prying into his pack's business. The reasons he gave for moving were understandable, and Brynn nodded along quietly as he spoke. 

The mention of a 'spacey' packmate made Brynn roll her eyes. She was pretty sure she knew exactly who he was describing. Still, she didn't want to jump to conclusions. Who did you speak with? she asked, shyness lessening as the conversation moved towards pack business. I'll make sure to check with them, as well as inform Valette, Brynn added. She would do both things as soon as she got home.

"aerasha," terance said, and then with a chuff and an unmistakable smirk he tacked on, "she called our beta treason cute." surely brynn wouldn't understand why the comment was so funny to terance-- who also didn't mention that aerasha had called him cute-- but the thought of it still brought joy to terance, who needed all the joy he could get these days. it's the little things.

"not unattractive, but cute isn't among the first thousand words any wolf would any call her," he clarified with a flick of his dark ears, and then cleared his throat. "anyway-- thank you, i really appreciate it."

Her suspicions were confirmed. He had spoken with Aerasha. The female was nice enough, but a little lazy for Brynn's liking, although the gamma had made sure to make it hard for her to be too lazy. She didn't know their beta, and so didn't see why he seemed amused by the statement. She smiled anyway, out of courtesy. I can't say that surprises me, she replied. Her packmate didn't seem like the shy type, something she secretly envied. 

It's no problem, she replied with a nod. She had planned to report to Valette about it anyway. 

She looked around, feeling awkward again without the buffer of pack talk. Um, have you explored much since arriving? she finally asked. It wasn't the most interesting topic of conversation, she knew, but she wasn't sure what else to say, and she wanted desperately to avoid any uncomfortable silences.

one day brynn would meet treason, and then she'd understand. without a doubt, she'd understand. "she was kind enough," he added, in case brynn was somehow offended by the comment about aerasha. and she was, but she certainly was not terance's cup of tea. it was like wraen in their younger days-- but on steroids. oof, terance felt a wince of pain at the memory of his and wraen's relationship when they were children.

her question drug him away from his memories, and he did a little half-shrug. "a bit just sound of our territories, and now i'm north. i don't want to stray too far while the pack is still settling, in case something happens," he replied kindly, then quipped, "any suggestions for sight-seeing?"

Brynn shrugged a little and nodded again. Kind enough she was. 

She was thankful when he began to speak and was glad to listen quietly as he told her where he had been so far, well the general direction he had been. Too soon, though, the conversation landed back on her, and she silently considered his question. Well, here is pretty nice, she said at first. But, they were already here, so why would he need her to tell him that it was nice when he could just see for himself. She could surely do better than that. There's also a, um, glade just west of here. Plenty of foxes to hunt if that's your thing, she quickly added, cheeks heating again. 

Um, and there's a lake a little north of here that's good for hunting she added before realizing, Oh, but that may be too far for now. She smiled apologetically. Hadn't he just said he didn't want to travel too far from his pack since they just settled? And why did everything she brought up have to involve hunting, like that was the only thing that mattered. It, unfortunately, was one of her default topics that came up when she wasn't sure what to talk about, and apparently how he assigned value to places.

"foxes," terance repeated with a general air of surprise, his ears flicking forwards at the word, "i actually might know what you're talking about." sunspire wasn't too far, really, terance had been to a lot of the territories around this area. hm. he hadn't thought about that until now... whatever.

and then to her comment, which quickly flustered her and caused her to backtrack, terance chuffed gently to ease her nerves, he hadn't judged a single one of her slip ups-- they were wolves, after all. "i'll check it out later, then," he returned with a small smile, "have you made yourself acquainted with the wolves of the creek? north of here?"

Of course he knew what she was talking about, she thought, it's not like Sunspire was that far from here. She had also apparently forgotten that fact, further adding to her nervousness. 

He seemed to still take her suggestion into consideration, even going so far as to soothe her discomfort with a soft chuff. She smiled shyly, thinking he was incredibly sweet. She shrugged a little at his question. I don't know a lot about them, she answered first. I've, um, only met one of them, and she seemed nice, she continued. I know that's not, um, super helpful, sorry, she quickly added, ears falling a little.

terance shook his head. "it's plenty helpful, thank you. i'll have to acquaint myself with them later," he told her with a wave of his white-tipped tail. all terance knew of the wolves of the creek is that they'd been hostile when some of their wolves(or other wolves? i forgot ): ) tried to pass through. though, that wasn't such a big deal. 

he rolled his shoulders. "thank you for your help-- i ought to head back," he said, turning to find brynn's topaz gaze, his ears flicking, "maybe i'll see you again around the the valley." he offered her a small, amicable smile, his tail still swinging lowly.

She nodded. Yeah. I'm sure I'll see you around, she replied, offering a shy smile. Maybe next time she would have better things to say and wouldn't be so awkward, but she was pretty sure neither of those things would happen. Um, good luck getting settled, she added, wincing a little. She was sure she would only offer more gems like that. 

With a dip of her head, she gladly turned and headed back to the comfort offered by Easthollow's borders. Enough socializing for today.