Deepwood Weald there's a hound at your heels

@Vorilye @Gabriele @Lycabas @Melaneus @Pyraethus to establish that OK is here now <3 love y’all thanks for letting me drag y’all along

They had arrived here, and it was right

The perfect conditions. Everything precisely what she wanted for a hidden pack of misfits and ramblers.

Themis’s paws sunk into the ground, mist clinging to her coat as the Vasiliás moved with deft precision. She could hear Metis tromping along after her, the girl having wiggled from her jaws to follow at her heel. She almost wanted to snort in amusement.

She didn’t. Because the last time she did, Metis had glared at her so hard it almost hurt Themis at its intensity. So, onward she went, forging the path ahead for them.

For her people.

<3 <3

Overnight, his world expanded. Overnight, the hidden ones moved.

And through all the changes, Melaneus continued to watch.

He had never known such a world could exist beyond the confines of their den: a treeless land, stretching far and beyond, to touch the horizon and the edge of the sky itself. He knew this to be true, for at some points he caught sight of another moon in the space the ground should have been - only broken, scattered, and surreal. Birds soared overhead, white and loud, and decidedly smelly, carrying a scent on their wings that he had vaguely tasted while nestled deep in the shadows of Shadewood, but never so much as in these hours that passed.

Melaneus did not understand why they had left the Shadewood. There had been an urgency in their mother's voice he had heard but was not old enough yet to piece together, and he had watched the adults respond to this urgency with an urgency of their own. With urgency, they had left - everyone together - and with urgency, here they were now - everyone together. Lycabas, and Pyraethus, and Metis, and Gabriele, and mother and father. He watched them, too, just as they watched him - and sometimes, he wondered, even more.

They arrived in a tree-filled place, dense with fog, and he blinked darkening eyes to see through the mist that shrouded them. This place carried a sense of otherworldliness. A place perfect for games of hide and seek (and, Melaneus thought, hiding would be much easier than seeking here). He willed his paws to drift closer to @Lycabas - his brother, he thought he had noticed, liked to watch things as well - and he wondered where his eyes were drifting to, in this strange new place.

He could breathe once the hinterlands were behind them, and he cast them one final glance before snorting softly, eyes narrowing as he moved along. He was at the rear, guarding them, and his eyes roved from child to child, then to Themis. This had to be the right choice.

But the winds brought scents of other groups, all around. Perhaps that was for the better. Vex wasn't among them, at least. He could relax, now.

No part of Lycabas cared about the journey. After being dragged back in line so many times from chasing his whims, he had given up on wonder and settled into marching along -- trying to keep up with the quick strides of mother and the long-legged gait of father. Their seriousness went over his head, and he only felt bitter at having his exploration curbed.

Mean!

The sound of his inner voice grew in volume the further they went from the Shadewood. It had gone from an incoherent babble to a loud whisper, and he tried to ignore it as much as his surroundings. In fact, the only time he didn't feel any animosity was when one of his siblings would distract him. Melaneus -- easily his favorite sibling given how quiet he was -- turned out to be the saving grace this time.

He pressed his side into his dark-furred brother, and finally allowed himself to study their fog-laden environment. Lycabas' pace slowed as his nose worked, and he drifted from the procession line in pursuit of a scent he hadn't had the opportunity to chase before. A mouse hiding beneath the fronds of a fern cluster leaped out of the way as the cream child discovered it.

Without hesitating, Lycabas pounced to catch the tiny beast, but it had already skittered away, leaving the boy excited and confused as he tried to find it again.

She cast a glance over her shoulder, offering Vorilye a quick smile, before she was looking ahead again, steps quick as she scanned the landscape.

Then, she slowed to a halt, turning in a quick circle.

Here. She breathed.

This is the future of Oi Kryfoí. Themis grinned. Her eyes glinted in the low light.

Welcome home, everyone.

Last from me!

This was their future. It had to be better being further from Vex, but at present Vorilye was rather unenthused. He managed a smile as Themis looked to him, and at her last words he offered, "I'll run a perimeter for the night, and we can start setting more stable borders in the morning." They would all be safe here.