Redsand Canyon Dusty roads ain't made for walking

Lane and @Tuuluuwaq skirted the base of the Sunspire as the sun was sinking. At least, Lane thought it was probably the Sunspire-- it was the tallest peak that she could identify. Her son, Veteran, had mentioned a pack around here that guarded a passage through the mountains. Veteran insisted that the pack, Mereo, was a friendly one, and the leader had even extend the offer of an alliance to Issorartuyok. 

She and Tuuluuwaq came upon a border, laid down where red sand spilled out onto the rock and dirt of the mountains. "Hello?" Lane called out. "Is anyone th--" Aunt Rue? Her brow furrowed as she caught her old teacher's faded scent. Wasn't Aunt Rue supposed to be in Redhawk Caldera? "Ruenna?" Lane called out. She turned to Tuuluuwaq to explain. 

"Aunt Rue was a long-term patient in my parents' care, when I was a kid. She looked after me a lot, practically raised me. I didn't realize she was here.." Her gaze swept back out over the canyon's entrance. Should they howl..?

Lane had explained the reason for searching out the canyon. Isso and Veteran had met the leader of the pack here and reported an interest in an alliance. Since they needed to cross the mountains anyway, it seemed appropriate to check it out. 

When they stopped on the borders, Lane started to call out to someone called Ruenna. She explained that she knew this woman from her childhood, that her parents had cared for her. 

I will call for someone so they do not think we are up to no good, he told her. Finding two wolves on their borders that had not called for an audience might start them off on the wrong paw. So the Tatkret tilted his head back and released a call.

germanicus kept his mind upon the organized tasklist he carried inside his mind always.

there had not been another sighting of the attacker nor the sons of the saints. mulberry had settled into her role. towhee proved his placement of her had been correct.

aquene healed. the patrols went on.

the howl of a stranger brought the eagle on. he regarded the pair: a man with dark eyes and a woman with a pleasant pelt. "this is mereo. i am its imperator. what brings you?"

his tone was unreadable and his yellowpaint eyes missed nothing.

Tuuluuwaq suggested they call, which was exactly what they needed to do. Of course. "Oh.. --oh yeah, um.." The rest of Lane's flustered words were drown out by the beginning of Tuuluuwaq's summons. Lane was still taken aback by discovering Ruenna's scent, but after a moment she recovered enough to join Tuuluuwaq's howl. 

As they sang together, Lane watched Tuuluuwaq's features. He had often caught her in the act of drinking in his visage greedily, and yet he never seemed to mind it. Traveling with Tuuluuwaq, having the opportunity to rest her gaze upon him whenever she liked-- it felt like a luxury, and Lane had no intention of depriving herself.

They were soon joined by a wolf from inside the canyon. He was the Imperator of Mereo, which was a title that vaguely rang a bell. 

"Imperator. My name is Lane, and this is Tuuluuwaq. We are packmates to Issorartuyok; I am his co-alpha. Our pack has found a new home in the western hinterlands, and we journey there now. We seek passage through the canyon, if Mereo will allow it." A pause, and she added, "We bring news from the valley.." It was precious little to offer as a trade, but they would be quick enough through the canyon. Perhaps their news would be of interest to the Imperator. 

Lane looked to Tuuluuwaq to explain what had happened with Rivenwood and Ursus. All she knew of the situation she knew because of him, after all.

Lane joined his call after a moment, and he realized how much he liked the way their voices mixed and spread across the canyon in front of them. 

A man answered and introduced himself as the imperator of Mereo. Tuulu nodded in response as Lane offered their names and told the man why they needed passage through the mountains. She said they had news from the valley, and then it was his turn to speak.

A pack called Ursus raided our allies, Rivenwood. Their leader, Mahler, and a few other packmates were injured in the fight and two of their pups, Indra and Abel, were taken. His expression was grim. We checked on them on our way to the mountains. It seems their leader has abandoned them and the ones who are left are planning something against Ursus.

He was quiet then, feeling as though he informed the imperator of the important points of the situation.

the woman was co-leader to the man that germanicus had met within the vale. the eagle accepted this and listened to the rest of the report. rivenwood was not a name he recognized nor was mahler. "i know ursus," the imperator confirmed. "it is led by merrick and his son aventus. it was they who helped us drive the saints from the sunspire."

but the bear-cult had always been dubious, had they not? "they are heathens and violent ones." what sort of allies did duskfire keep in such weak wolves? "mereo will give you passage. will it be only yourselves or are there others to come?" last time he had met the travelers they had been accompanied by young ones.

The background information on Ursus was helpful. They sounded like a rough crowd-- one Atautsikut would do best to avoid. For the millionth time since learning of the raid, Lane was glad that her pack was leaving the area. Pupnappers were bad enough, but lawless, violent pupnappers? The faces of her own two children came to mind, and Lane shivered.

"We should be the last," Lane answered the Imperator's question. "The others must have crossed elsewhere." A pause, and she chanced a question. "You mentioned driving away a people called the Saints.. were these "Saints" worse than Ursus?" They must have been serious trouble, if the Imperator had chosen to align with "violent heathens" to dispel them. 

God, wouldn't it be just like Lane's luck if these so-called "Saints" had wound up somewhere in the Hinterlands?

Things with Ursus seemed to only become more complicated the more they got involved. The imperator knew the pack and offered the names of their leaders. He also explained that they had helped drive a pack called The Saints out of the mountains. Tuulu was surprised to hear that the pack had helped anyone do anything, but he figured they had some agenda of their own. 

Lane asked for more information on The Saints after ensuring the imperator that they should be the last needing passage through the mountains. 

His gaze studied the canyon leader with interest as he waited for him to expand on the group that had been driven from the mountains.

"the saints once lived far west. they must have had strong numbers. their reputation is grim. pillaging. killing. but i only knew a woman called nyra. she attacked and killed a member of our allied pack. by the time that the saints were cast out, there were only three of them."

five known, now with the boys alduin and tulok. 

"i expect that the legacy of both ursus and the saints is dire."

Veteran had told Lane of Mereo and their noble aspiration to rid the land of evil. She had taken it to simply be the excited ramblings of a child, because any grown wolf ought to know that there was no such thing as good and evil. There were only people, and everyone was trying to do the best with what they had. 

Unfortunately, Ursus's pursuit of happiness had collided with that of Duskfire's allies, and so their actions were labelled "evil." This labeling was by design, to ascertain that others would take issue and join the Rivenwood efforts. Could Mereo be so easily swayed? 

"And if Ursus were to rise as the great evil in these parts, would Mereo take issue with that?" Was Mereo prepared to oppose the wolves they had once stood beside in battle? 

Tuuluuwaq was quiet. What did he think of all this politicking? The tactics and plotting? Was he starting to understand why Lane was so frequently stressed, and why she had entertained the self-indulgent daydream of giving up her leadership responsibilities?

If Lane had asked him outright what he thought of all this, he would have told her he was both intrigued and worried. Intrigued because she brought up things he hadn't thought ask, yet he was eager to hear the answers. Worried because he wondered if Atautsikut would get pulled into the middle of whatever war might erupt. He was a fighter, but he had been looking forward to finally getting some peace once they settled in their new home. 

He continued to study the canyon leader, curious what his answer would be to Lane's question. From what the man had said of the two packs, it didn't seem like Mereo would stand loyally at Ursus' side if they proved to be a problem.

"i will not be seeking ursus. but if they bring their conflict here then mereo will end it." germancius did not often believe in preemptive strikes. and yet he saw their merit. he wondered if lane asked these things out of curiosity or concern. it sounded as though duskfire was moving quite far away and would not be affected. but it was her role to inquire he supposed.

he had led them to the centerpoint of mereo, which bustled with its own activity. "will you be crossing immediately or do you seek respite before you continue on?" germanicus supposed he could find hospitality inside himself. they had not been followed from the looks of it and they had brought mereo useful word of happenings beyond the canyon.

It did not sound like Rivenwood would be receiving help from Mereo, if Germanicus stayed true to this decision to remain uninvolved. Germanicus seemed like a good leader; he had led his people in battle, and they had tasted victory. There was a strong argument to be made for Lane to take a page out of his book and remain neutral. 

Evening had cast shadows upon the small group. Germanicus asked if they would stay, and Lane's first instinct was to decline. Germanicus had made no mention of the alliance proposition he had extended to Issorartuyok, and so Lane had to assume that the offer was no longer on the table for one reason or another. She did not wish for herself and Tuuluuwaq to linger in these lands where they had no business, except...

"We won't be staying, I don't think.." A quick glance to Tuuluuwaq. "But I was wondering.. Ruenna Redfern. Is she here? I hoped I could say hello to her. We're family, of sorts. I didn't realize she had left the Redhawk Caldera.." Lane's gaze darted to Tuuluuwaq once more. She had sprung this on him a bit quickly-- was he ready to have a "meet-the-parents" moment with a wolf who raised Lane?

So Mereo would stay out of the conflict between Ursus and Rivenwood unless it was brought to the canyon. That was about how he and Lane had felt about it too. He should probably feel bad about it, but he didn't. Lane came first, and so did Atautsikut. If they could avoid a fight, he would prefer that. 

He could tell Lane wasn't keen on staying here for the night, and neither was he. He'd rather find somewhere for just the two of them to rest for the night. 

Surprised briefly flashed across his face when Lane mentioned she had family here, someone named Ruenna Redfern. He was curious to meet Ruenna and learn how she was related to his kuulti. He was also nervous and wished he wasn't dirty and tired from travel. But he wouldn't let any of that keep Lane from seeing her family.

"that makes us family as well as friends. i am ruenna's husband." he turned toward lane and tuuluuwaq with the air of a soldier with arms crossed behind his back. "she is the matrona here and oversees the commoner ranks."

the eagle paused. "i will not press the two of you if you mean to move on quickly with the aim of rejoining the rest of your pack. but i feel she would welcome a visit."

traveling west would bring them to a swatch of stone ledges, uncomfortable but not uninhabitable for a night or two. a thin rivulet of water that could hardly be called a stream would lead the duskfire pair there.

This was Ruenna's husband? Lane tilted her head, studying Germanicus in a new light. Things sure do change quickly. 

Lane wondered if Aunt Rue would have pups of her own this year. Lane thought she would make a brilliant mom; she had been nanny to Lane after all, and Lane hadn't turned out half bad. 

Lane glanced to Tuuluuwaq. She had a feeling he would not want to linger, but Aunt Rue was an important person to Lane, as was Tuuluuwaq. Lane thought that two such important people ought to meet each other, given the opportunity. It would not be a long visit. 

"I think we'll stop by and say hello," Lane decided, turning her gaze back to Germanicus. "Thank you," she added, ending on an appreciate note. 

Feel free to fade/archive at any point now. I'm thinking the meet and greet with Ruenna could just take place behind-the-scenes, if everyone is okay with that!