Blacktail Deer Plateau preparing for winter

It was getting colder. Grezig’s skin itched every now and then and she knew it was because her winter coat was coming in. There was often frost on the ground when she awoke and went outside, and she was glad for the protection of the the Door. She wondered now if they would have been so lucky had they settled down in the Vale. The mountains would have protected them from the worst of the snows, perhaps, but she couldn’t help imagining the Vale as a giant bowl, slowly filling up with snow and freezing them all to death. It was a stupid thought, but it made her glad for the cave they all used to sleep in at night.

She trotted out into the open, wondering what to do today. Perhaps hunt a bit. Prey was becoming harder to come by and they needed all they could find for the winter. With that in mind, she put her nose to the dirt and began sniffing out something to catch. A hare, anything. Just something to put in a cache for later.

A rather diminutive wolf not really built for the harshness of winter, Rue was also quite grateful for the shelter of the Door... particularly after returning home from a scouting excursion. Very particulalry after spending the night in a hole she had carved out of the snow. Rue could still feel the crick in her neck from her cramped accomodations the previous night. She looked forward to stretching out in the dry, cozy Door, and it was indeed where she was heading when she caught the scent of Grezig. 

Rue sighed, knowing she ought to stop and make a report to the Beta even though it would delay her in reaching the Door. She barked, hoping to summon Grezig to her position if the advisor wasn't otherwise occupied. Although Rue would have to wait a little longer to warm her bones, she looking forward to catching up with Grezig and perhaps hearing about where the Beta had gotten off to the last couple of weeks. If there was one thing Rue always had, it was a very healthy amount of curiosity.

Ruenna’s bark gave Grezig pause. She stopped and turned, looking over her shoulder, and saw the girl standing there expectantly. Grezig let her tail wag and trotted over to the girl. “Ruenna,” she said in greeting. “What is it?” She hadn’t spoken to the girl much since that time a month earlier when she’d gotten her head stuck in that log full of orange spores. The experience had been so strange that it all seemed a bit like a dream now. If Grezig knew what Cheetos were, she would have said that all three of them had been hitting the Cheeto bag too hard that day.

Ruenna wagged her tail similarly once Grezig was in sight. She deflated a bit at Grezig's somewhat blunt question-- had Rue interrupted something? Rue didn't know Grezig well enough to know whether being terse and straightforward was the woman's nature, or if she had caught the Beta on a bad day. 

"I-- nothing in particular-- I just thought I might hear a little about your recent travels, if you don't mind speaking about them. I've been traveling a little too, and I.. must have missed it when you departed." Rue's tone was hesitant, almost apologetic. Had it been last month, Rue might have simply apologized for the interruption and made a hasty departure, but now that she had risen in the ranks Rue was feeling a little more confident making requests of others. She still felt like she was imposing pretty much all of the time, but now more often than not her curiosity won out over her shyness.

Grezig’s brows drew together at Ruenna’s hesitant tone. She sat down after hearing the girl’s question, realizing they might be sitting there for a while. Well, there went her plans for the morning, but that was okay. “Well…” Grezig sucked in a breath and let it out, thinking. “I went away for a few weeks to try and find Illidan’s family. I traveled east, to one of the only packs I know of, but the woman there had no information for me. I also met a pack leader along a creek—I think I remember them from before we settled at the Plateau—but he had nothing to tell me, either.” Grezig sighed. “I came back empty-handed.” She looked out at the trees. “I might go and search in a new direction in the spring. I don’t want to go looking anymore for now because I’d like to be here for winter. It would be dangerous to leave now.”

Grezig was silent for a time, thinking about nothing in particular, and then she came back to herself. “Anyway, that’s where I’ve been.” She turned and gave a brief, rare smile to Ruenna, and then it disappeared from her face as if it had never been there. Ruenna did not need to know why Grezig had felt the need to leave in the first place.

Grezig seemed fine with talking once she got started, and Rue relaxed a little as she listenend. It seemed to her that the Beta hadn't really enjoyed being out and about-- she spoke about her travels as one failed goal after another. Travel for travel's sake didn't seem to bring Grezig the same joy it brought Ruenna, that was for certain. 

Grezig was quiet for a bit, and Rue opened her mouth to ask a question. Catching the faraway look on the Beta's features, she closed her mouth wordlessly and waited. She had already interrupted the woman's thoughts once today. When Grezig came back to the conversation, Rue returned her fleeting smile. "I.. I'm sorry, I don't know Illidian. I didn't realize we were looking for this person or their-- their family? --Or I would have been helping. I could have been asking people myself as I traveled."

Not for the first time, Rue was surprised by the lack of communication and cooperation among the ranks of Blacktail Deer Plateau. If this mission was a priority to Grezig, then it was a priority to Rue. That was how family worked. Didn't it make sense that they would get so much more accomplished if they all coordinated their efforts? It frustrated Rue a bit, knowing that she had missed the opportunity to possibly help a packmate.

Grezig’s instinct was to say that it was not Ruenna’s place to look for Illidan’s family, especially since she didn’t even know him. She opened her mouth to snap at the girl, but closed it after a moment, rethinking the situation. “I suppose if you wish to help then you can,” she said slowly. “There is not much information to go off of, though. I only know that the boy’s mother looks like him, and that there was a group of them traveling. His parents and siblings. I do not know how many siblings he has. I know he has one brother, Ephraim, who has sandy-colored fur.” She paused, trying to think of anything else to add.

A sigh escaped her. “He does not like talking about them. His family, I mean. And something… happened, a few months ago before we were settled. He won’t tell me what it is, but it traumatized him. I have no idea if it has anything to do with his family or not, but…” She breathed, looked around, gathered her thoughts. “That’s all I can tell you. It’s not much, which is partly why I took on the job myself. I’m not sure what good it would do to bring others into it with me, but… you can do what you think would help.” Here, her gaze hardened and she looked directly at Ruenna. “You bring any information you find straight to me. Understand?” Grezig was possessive of Illidan and this was important to her. She did not want to find things out about the boy’s family later than anyone else because Ruenna hadn’t told her first. “And tell the alphas before you leave if you plan on going.”

A flicker of some emotion passed over Grezig-- was it annoyance? Rue was definitely beginning to regret interrupting the Beta. The last thing she ever wanted was to impose upon one of the Blacktail Deer Plateau leadership, especially when they had been kind enough to take her in before the impending winter. 

Grezig went on to describe Illidian as "a boy," as spoke of him as if Rue already knew what he looked like. It began to dawn upon the silver that Grezig was talking about the reclusive young man who was only really even seen at night, curled up with one of the leaders (usually Grezig). It had taken Rue a minute to get up to speed because she had assumed that Grezig was the young man's --Illidian's-- family. 

Rue felt a little silly for falling prey to assumption. No wonder Grezig had seemed annoyed, since she was apparently speaking with an idiot. Rue's brow knit as Grezig finished describing the wolves they sought. It certainly wasn't much information to go by; Rue would have thought that there would be much more -- names and places, to start... If the boy wished to return home, why would he give them so little information with which to work? 

Perhaps the trauma explained some of the missing information. Rue nodded empathetically. "I'll do my best," she promised, nodding again to confirm that she would bring the information straight to Grezig. The Beta seemed to have hardened for some unexplained reason, and her sentences were coming out more like commands rather than requests. Grezig was Beta, and however she wished to speak to Rue was certainly her perrogative, but Rue herself would never have taken such a tone with someone who had just finished offering to help her. 

The final order was quite unnecessary, and the fact that Grezig felt the need to speak it at all felt derogatory. Of course Rue would inform an alpha if she planned to be away for any amount of time.  Rue took in a quiet breath, tail switching as it often did when she was annoyed (a habit of which she was unaware). She kept her face carefully blank, despite the insult she felt. "Of course," she said quietly, gaze dropping. She turned as if considering departure, but belatedly remembered that she hadn't yet delivered her report. "You might try asking Lily, or someone else from Elysium. They just move into the willows across the mountains to the northeast." There, mission accomplished. She drew in a conclusive breath, waiting to be dismissed.

Grezig was oblivious to Ruenna’s annoyance. She repeated the strange word the girl had said: “Elysium.” She’d never heard of this pack, but nodded when Ruenna described it. “Thank you for the information,” she said. “And thank you for speaking with me.” She gave the girl a nod, and then turned and trotted away, nose to the ground to search out prey, which had been her original intent.

[Exit.]

SORRY FOR THE ABRUPT ENDING. I’m trying to clear out Grezig’s threadlog because she’s leaving today (Nov 12)

"Certainly," Rue replied to Grezig's expression of gratitude, glad in this moment for the Beta's brevity of speech. This interaction was not one Rue wished to draw out, and clearly Grezig felt the same. Rue watched the Beta wind away through the trees for a moment before letting out a small sigh. She then continued on her way to the Door. 

AHH ITS OKAY it was over anyway xD. Feel free to archive. We will mis Grezzybear. ;___;