Firefly Glen a minty fresh death breath

@Antares or @Atlas, please. cameos and/or additional, skippable players are also welcome. takes place during the january blizzard, date flexible to accomodate timelines.

Lane was aiming for the Blackfeather Woods, but where she had actually ended up was anyone’s guess. She was south of the mountain chain, of that much she was certain. Although she had most certainly traveled here before, the landscape was unrecognizable, transformed by the unrelenting blizzard.

 The oppressive, frigid air ripped against Lane's fur, blasting the young medic from every direction. Stinging ice droplets pelted her face with every ruthless gust of wind. Each breath the young woman dragged in sliced a glacial path down her windpipe.

Having met the leaders of Ivory Rose, Lane was fairly certain they would agree to shelter her… if only she could find them. Lane squinted against the wintery onslaught, peering against the skyline for anything recognizable. A faint zigzag of mountains was visible on the horizon ahead.

Another mountain range? Did that mean she was approaching a pass? Or, perhaps, a glen?

Firefly Glen. The home of Toad Amelia the Master Storyteller, and of Holland the Self-Proclaimed Medic. The former acquaintance, Lane would love to see once again. The later, she could do without… but beggars couldn’t very well be choosers. Lane lifted her muzzle and howled for the wolves of Firefly Glen. If that was even where she was.

Her call ripped instantly from her muzzle, with such speed and ferocity that Lane wasn’t sure if she had even made a sound at all.

The weather was abysmal, and all seemed quiet, but the dark Ostrega roved anyway--too restless, too stricken, and too desperately in need of somewhere to send his energies. With so much loss so terribly close to the heart, it was unlike anything else. But Antares found if he stuck to the trees, there he had a hint of a buffer. Thankfully, his habits already kept him close to the woodlots and he could keep pushing forward.

It placed him near enough when the howl went up--the call that gave him a hint of a startle, honestly, as it cut through the wind and ice into his silent sulking. Who else would be out here? Worse, he didn't recognize the voice.  Like he was feeling up to greeting strangers any. Nevertheless, his ears flicked up only long enough to consider its meaning before he returned to a long, low slink of a gait. He at least had a heading to go on, so he set out in search of the source to answer.

With enough time, he was able to close in, and appeared from the nearby cover to the stranger. You called, right? he said, having to force his voice above his normal as the wind bit him back. This is Firefly Glen. What are you doing out here? he asked, even more to the point than normal, though he had good sense that anyone sane could see why.

A wraithlike shadow materialized and drifted forward. His words punched through the gale, delivering the brusque greeting. Lane nodded in response to his first question, and she adjusted her posture to the most nonthreatening stance she could muster while still bracing herself against the weather.

It stood to reason that any wolf wandering this frozen hellscape was either insane, or up to no good. This Firefly Glen patrolman was probably already wary of her. 

"What are you doing out here?"

Straight to the point, of course. It was not the time or the place for niceties.  "Lost," Lane admitted, her gaze cutting away to hide her shame. "Lost, alone, starving, and hurt" would have been most accurate, but Lane had already swallowed more dignity than she could bear. 

"I can pay for lodging." Like many her age, Lane had more pride than sense, and she couldn't bring herself to stoop to begging. Even so, she was painfully aware of how empty-handed she would appear to the Firefly Glen representative. 

"Toad Amelia can vouch for me," she added. "Lane. Herbalist and Medic." Lane's voice was hoarse from shouting above the wind.

Holy fuck, it was awful out here. Lane hoped the man would just take her word for it, and he wouldn't leave her waiting as he went to verify her identity.

Lost. Fair, he decided, though she still looked hale enough from here. Lost but not completely defeated, he wanted to suspect there--or hoped so. And, on a better day, he probably would've appreciated the humor a bit more. He blinked and tried not to react too viscerally at the mention of Toad Amelia. It was only her fresh loss that barbed him then, not the.. recommendation from a friend. That he appreciated, not that fact that it hurt his heart to have to break that news soon.

She moved it on with facts and he was thankful, silently, that she for one, didn't fault him for being a prickly jerk in the shit weather, but two, she had sense to keep it brief. Good on her, as far as he was concerned. He could chalk it up to observation skills in tact, and, after a bear had ripped them asunder, he was not about to turn his nose at the chance of another medic.

And, as recently minted replacement in the massive hole Osiris left in their lives, he was.. here to make that call on behalf of the Glen, and by extension Moonspear--his entire family. Felt weird still, all while coping with everything. He jerked his muzzle towards the heart of the territory, a windblown sweep of his tail going too. His sign of some level of acceptance, for now. C'mon, he grunted as he pivoted, making sure she was going with him before he took off to take a place relatively beside her if he could, wanting to keep closer than he was actually that comfy with for the sake of information. Prove yourself and you'll find a good home here, I think. he said. I'm Antares Ostrega. This is awful, he clicked his teeth in frustration as the wind blew into his face.

He urged a route towards the nearest considerable tree cover, hoping to very much convey a more later sense for her.

The Glen wolf urged her to follow, and Lane was quick to comply. There had been some sort of reaction to the mention of Toad Amelia-- some small shift of emotion behind the man's eyes-- but Lane couldn't quite put her paw on exactly what that reaction was. Speaking Toad's name had gotten Lane off the border pretty quickly, that was for certain. It was either that, or Antares was just cold. That seemed plausible, too. 

Conditions didn't exactly favor communication at the moment, and Lane was provided only with the vague instruction to prove herself. She could do that. There were no weird rules or warnings right off the bat, that was a good sign. Here's to hoping Firefly Glen was just a nice, normal bunch of wolves, since Lane was going to have to be hunkered down here for God knows how long.

A particularly nasty gust blasted the pair from the front, and Lane ducked her head. She growled her agreement with the Firefly Glen man. It was awful. Lane had been battling this weather for weeks now, every day hoping that this was the day she would wake up to clear skies. 

The Glen wolves finally made it across the treeline. I wasn't exactly warm-- not by a long shot-- but at least with the treecover it was calm enough to hold a short conversation. 

"Anything I need to know?" she asked, shaking the snow off of her pelt. If there was a pressing medical need that Antares could identify for her, she would focus her attention there first. "Just the gist is fine. I can find Holland later and get the details from him." A gust of wind battered the trees, tugging insistently at Lane's fur.

While everything else in his immediate world seemed to have been rocked lately, at least the wolves that had come to them recently seemed to be pretty sensible, and to the point--even with him feeling so foul and unsteadied. He hadn't managed to off-put anyone that badly yet, but with winter acting probably worse than him recently, he chalked at least a piece of it up to the pressures of the seasons.

Anyway, thankfully, the trees did help take the edge off. He tried not to make the worst face he had as he anticipated breaking this piece that could influence her stay. But she also mentioned knowing Holland, so that also likely worked in the glen pack's favor. Yeah, first--and as much as I hate to have to break this news, Toad Amelia is gone. There was a bear, and several suffered between here and the mountain, Antares said, which lead him to the next point he wanted new recruits to have a vague mention about. Meeting that scout from the northern places had made him realize how their situation here with the Spear was potentially viewable as.. unique. Which is the pack we stem from that my parents lead. Essentially, we are one but we uphold the claim here now for better hunting and more land.. All game for further clarification if she wanted it, he was easier about that topic than announcing dead friends obviously, but if she wished to file it for later, that was also fair. So you know Holland too then? he asked lightly after more detail there, only drawing a potential medic similarity between them--not that he knew Holland all that well personally.

“Oh,” Lane’s emitted her soft response to the news. Her skin felt numb, and everything around her seemed to freeze in place for a long moment. It was not her first exposure to death—not by a long shot—but it was easily the most unexpected one in recent memory. The news jolted her. But, at the end of the day, it didn’t change much about Lane’s present situation. She still needed a place to touch down, at least until this weather cleared, and it sounded like the Glen was in need of what she offered as well.

“I’m sorry for your losses, here and on the mountain.” Lane had been looking forward to having Toad here as a friendly face, but Antares’s grief would obviously be much more profound. If he had family in both locations, then it also stood to reason that he would deeply feel the losses suffered by both packs, and not just those of the Glen. 

Lane nodded. Yes, she had met Holland. She was unlikely to forget him, as long as her paw still smarted with every step. 

"He helped me remove a nasty splinter," Lane confirmed, lifting her paw to show Antares the puncture wound. An uneven pink scar protruded from the swollen pad, and the wound still leaked a bit-- long days of travel weren't conducive to Lane's healing. "I, uh, wasn't the nicest patient," Lane admitted after a beat, ears flattening sheepishly. She felt the need to explain, in case Antares mentioned her name to Holland and his reaction was less than ideal.

He preferred to let her be as that chunk of bad news could settle in, all while hoping not to weather any major ripples thanks to it. But, like most things so far, she seemed to take it in stride--given, not pleased, but able to offer her condolences--which Antares didn't know how to gracefully receive, either. A look away, a small nod. After a pause that he let get heavy, he offered a small Thanks.. A lot changed here because of it, as an explanation. Mostly, he meant for himself, freshly ascended in place of his fallen brother while he felt the grip on his other brother slipping... That was about as far as that ought to go right now, unless she needed otherwise. He, certainly, did not.

He followed her gesture easily after, happy enough to consider elsewhere--anywhere, even to a sliver of healing flesh. Eyes narrowing, thankfully, it was the kindest wound he'd seen in weeks. Hope you were good practice for him then, if nothing else, he smirked, humor drier than usual apparently. But point remained, if Holland had walked away from the encounter, then good. Never hurts to be prepared for the difficult patients. Antares offered. Anything else in particular you'd like to know? he asked, before he tried to fill in the blanks more on his own.

The Glen guardian responded to her admission with amusement, which hopefully meant Lane was off the hook for the way she had behaved with Holland previously. She'd still have to swallow her pride and apologize to Holland when she saw him next, which was a conversation she was not excited to have. 

"Right," Lane confirmed. "They do say medics make the worst patients." She had a dry sense of humor to match Antares's, and it tugged at the corners of her expression for a fleeting instance. 

The wind picked up around them, howling and swirling outside their meager shield of trees. Antares seemed to take that as a cue to turn the conversation back to business-- it wasn't the greatest setting for small talk, sadly. 

"Just where to start.." Lane answered, letting out a long breath. It sounded like she was going to have to hit the ground running. "..as in, the most pressing medical needs, or whoever is getting regular checks." she explained. With Lane now here to take shifts, she could immediately ease the burden of Holland and the other caregivers of the Glen.

Where to start? He was quiet for a long moment because he didn't have a very good answer for this. Honestly, anywhere. There is a healer on the mountain who has treated ours some, and really.. most of ours who were injured have.. died already. Antares said, as harsh as it was. We lost a lot quickly. Maybe that explained it some. Keres had tried to fight it, but for many of the others, they had stood no chance in the wake of that wretched bear. Besides a few healing scrapes--and all the psychological damage he was not one to begin to unpack personally--that was what he knew about. He was still in the process of helping pull everyone back together.

It was too easy to focus on the gaps in their life lately, but he dredged past it.. towards who was left, like all of his family in the aftermath of this, and even Bronco and Meerkat. He was worried about them in a different way too. From an unrelated event to that, another one of our wounded is recuperating with family south of here, so when he can get back, honestly.. he probably should be looked after. I think they said it was a cougar, there. It's all a long story and a big mess, he detailed, all while feeling pretty sure he just screamed that he was feeling this entire leadership position situation out as he went. Take care of yourself, too. It's been.. I can't even begin to explain, he shook his head.

Lane nodded in understanding, expression darkening. For Toad Amelia's sake, she hoped that her friend's passing had been one of the "quiet" ones... but still, that was a shitty thing to have to hope to begin with. 

Antares moved on to mention the victim of yet another animal attack. Did it ever let up here? Lane nodded again. Cougar mauling victims were fairly easy to spot, and she would keep an eye out for any new faces bearing the telltale signs. She might have asked Antares for the man's name, but honestly it would have just gone in one ear and out the other. 

Antares urged her to take care of herself too, and Lane glanced down at her injured paw. "I will," she promised (spoiler alert, she wouldn't). Antares's words trailed off, and Lane got the feeling that he was pretty overwhelmed. She nudged the guardian in what she hoped was a comforting way; the touchy-feeling part of caregiving had never been her forte. 

"C'mon," she prompted, "Let's get somewhere safe."  Wherever "somewhere safe" was, Antares would have to lead. 

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