Lion Head Mesa every beginning has within it the seeds of its own end

it is only dull interest that has her come here, but it is after a moment that she notes the scent of @Black Hat, and a second, semi-familiar one it takes her a long moment to place -- @Rowan, the boy she'd not thought of since she'd left the wood behind. they are outside of that gradual border that marks the end of the nightwalker's and moonspear's shared dominion, a fact that relieves her. though she'd been sure at the time, she had come to doubt the decision she'd made in her last conversation with her once-mentor. 

the girl trails through the foothills, seeking a fresher scent. that line into adulthood had been crossed, it seemed, and at just about the same time Valour's scent had gone faint. it's him he searches for too, out here; an ally is too valuable to lose, especially so shortly after her most recent challenge.

-eyes-

Things were moving at a slower pace than he would've liked, but they were chugging along well enough. He'd just finished covering a cache when he caught wind of someone he hadn't seen in a while — Hela. Wondering what led her to presumably seek him out, he moved straight for her. He neared, and she looked even larger than before like she never stopped growing. Hela, He purred, slowing to a stop. What brings you here?

His keen eyes and ears never kept him too far from Black Hat. He wasn't about to be left here alone because the man couldn't be bothered to find him - it seems like something he'd do as part of training. So the boy was a shadow, albeit a distant one.
Rowan too was making caches the best he could and ensuring that coyotes knew this was their territory, he didn't mind not being inside the woods, but it was basically theirs. The proximity was short and he could go there to feel at peace whenever he wished.

An unwanted form strode about the horizon, Rowan already moving towards them as Black Hat approached her. He held his tail high and chin slightly low. The snake would not catch him out. She wasn't supposed to be here.
He watched with his golden eyes, waiting for something to happen. Something which meant Hela leaving.

something has shifted since she'd left the challenger in the dirt. quite simply, she was fed up -- her soon-to-be right hand had vanished, discontent within their ranks was obvious. she'd tried, quite truly, to mold herself into a good leader; tried for tact and when the occasion called for it, diplomacy, even. bursts of rage, hate, served her only poorly. 

"black hat." he heads directly for her, and the yearling stills, watching him with dull-glazed gaze. "your claim," she answers, motioning to the ground he walks on. the motion is made stilted by a brief flare of pain across the side of her neck. damned Vanity. "this is it, then?" bronze meets gold, and her gaze narrows a fraction as it settles on an unexpected one. "rowan." she offers, gaze flicking back to her once-mentor after a moment.

super sorry for the long wait! i'm alive again. ♥

Hela was clearly reluctant to answer his question with how she shifted topics, but he went with it for now. Lovely, isn't it? He asked rhetorically. She acknowledged Rowan, who was not pleased with her presence, to say the very least. But he paid the boy little mind for now unless he decided to make a scene.

I presume you aren't merely dropping by to say hello. A gentle nudge in the right direction. He was anxious to satiate his curiosity. Pessimistically, he prepared for the worst. Anything Nightwalkers related had that effect on him nowadays.