Ocean's Breath Plateau It's just ink on paper

Carrying with her a crossfox pelt she hoped might impress and appease the wolves of Moontide, Thyra journeyed on a diplomatic mission, saddled with the responsibility of bearing news and renewing proposed peace talks. She found the air cool as she traveled through the last leg, through the Sentinels, and could smell the earthy scent of leaf litter as it began to accumulate. The summer had passed by quickly, and soon she would awaken to see frost spun on the remaining leaves. 

She arrived at the borders, and looked up toward the Plateau; yet another home with a safe vantage point, though not nearly as perilous as the Keep. On past the Caldera she gazed for a moment, thoughts of their future home coming to mind as she imagined a safe haven that the pack could inhabit for the winter. 

Hoping to speak of such things, she called out, hoping one of the leaders might hear her peaceful summons.

Heph responded to the call with no small amount of trepidation. The thick fog of mourning still seemed to hang over the plateau and with Rodyn absent and Samani gone forever she feared what news might beckon. Rodyn, the children? She rushed there with perhaps more haste than decorum but slowed at the unfamiliar face at their borders bearing a crossfox pelt.

Tipping her head a tired smile slanted itself half-heartedly across her lips. "Welcome to Moontide. I'm Heph, a beta here. What brings such a lady to call?" Her voice was warm and polite, but missing a more familiar jaunty cadence.

The wolf who came to greet her smelled familiar, and she guessed that this was likely Heph, the ambassador who had come to her pack some time ago to extend greetings. She had a kindness to her brown eyes, though Thyra- a sensitive creature as she was- thought she saw a shade of something she did not quite recognize. It could have been tiredness, though by the way her mother had spoken of Heph, something seemed changed. 

"Hael og sael," She greeted with a bob of her head. She felt a bit shy, and bowed her head with a slightly nervous laugh when she was deemed a lady. Thyra's tail waved. "You are as kind as my mother has said you to be," She said warmly. "I am from Hljódrfell, and I come on behalf of my mother, Solveig, who is Drottning there. Uhm, leader." She explained. "We will be moving in the Fall, so that winter may be kinder to the young ones," She explained. "We would like to move beyond this line of mountains, to the valley past; and open invitations for pack hunts where we both can share," She said. She nudged the crossfox pelt forward, with a smile.

Heph took the offered pelt with a smile, it was a fine color and well-preserved, unique. Samani would have had some use for it more than simply draping it in a den. She swallowed but her thanks were warm. "Thank you. It is good to meet you. Congratulations to your mother, I'm sure Hljodrfell will prosper with her." Solveig had presented a sensible and level-headed strategic mind when Heph had met her, while she hoped their old leader was found she had no doubt that Solveig would lead well in her absence or if she was never recovered. 

Nodding she took a moment, and spoke thoughtfully, mind thankfully distracted with practical things. "This makes sense, when you speak of beyond the mountain range do you mean to the south in the flatlands and wilderness or to the east of the sunspires? We would welcome a chance to share in a larger hunt although we may not be able to send many hunters. One of our alphas recently passed and her family may wish to remain here." Her voice fumbled at the start of explaining Samani, but she spoke evenly after that. She was no stranger to death, and yet admittedly she had not braced herself for the loss of any of her friends. If anything Heph had thought with all her galavanting and exploring she would be the more likely to perish early. 

Realizing she had not caught the other wolf's name she paused in her speech. "Sorry I don't think I caught your name?"

Heph flattered Thyra's mother, and it was appreciated. She knew her mother had some reservations about getting very close with the Moonpacks- simply for fear that they might suggest that they join in and choose a name, and possibly surrender their beliefs but...Thyra had already felt the pack slip from their old ways. The ceremonies and stories had become infrequent, sacrifices had been eliminated altogether. Solveig had brought change and while Thyra did miss some of their ceremonies, she was relieved that they were also not spending so much time simply guarding a cave of a great tree simply because it had been deemed holy. 

She was figuring out how to reply to Heph, but her features fell and she became fully distracted by the grief that Heph portrayed when she spoke about losing an important member of one of the Moonpacks. "Oh, Heph, I- I'm so sorry to hear that," She said, ears pulling back. To hear that it might effect the pack's wintering habits meant that she really must have been quite significant. Staying with family, in the wake of such a loss, seemed to Thyra like a good idea. 

"We are thinking inland...We do not know names for the mountains. We may go past those mountains," She said, gesturing to the ones to the South, where Moonspear reached up to the sky, "Though it would be a long travel, so we may also stay in the shelter of these ones," She said, gesturing to the long range of Sunspire mountains. "Once we have settled, I will come and speak with you again," She said, tail waving gently. She did enjoy getting to deliver messages, though she gasped in surprise when she realized she'd failed to answer another important question. 

"Oh! Oh me- oh, I am sorry- my name is Thyra, ouf!" She said, laughing and rolling her eyes. "What I am some days, is not as good as other days," She smiled.

Heph nodded in thanks, she vacillated between cursing herself for being unable to talk about her old friend without something trembling in her voice to wishing and feeling some curl of warmth in her when others acknowledged that it was a loss. For Samani had breathed life into Moontide, been a daughter, and a sister, and a mother as well among many other things no more. 

Her ears perked and she looked in the directions indicated. She fixed her own eyes and gestured towards those horizons. "Moonspear, a sister pack to Moontide, led by our previous alpha's sister, Sialuk, resides in those mountains you said you might travel to. If you visit there they may be able to tell you better than I what lies beyond and what the territory there is like." While she had only every gone to the Two Rivers Isle that was closer to the coast than inland. Moonspear though she had little doubt would have more knowledge of the neighboring areas. Though she could not make promsies on behalf of Sialuk, whom she still had not met, she knew Rodyn was there with his children, and he might be willing to gather the information on their behalf.

She had traveled southernly through the other mountain range some time ago, but did not trust her memory as far as everything they wished to know, but she remembered Void had set out to found his own pack along that range. "In the mountains to the south you might try to seek out a wolf named Void and his mate Meylodi, they planned to settle there." While she knew Void was more of a hunter and fighter than a wanderer like sher he had been a loner as well and she had no doubt he had marked out the territory well, caring for the safety of his pups. He had mellowed coming to Moontide and finding Meylodi so she felt less trepidation telling Thyra of him.

A lsmile twisted its way up onto her face and she let out a huff of good natured laughter in concert. "In all fairness some days are not so good as other days."

It interested Thyra to know where Moonspear was- but upon hearing that their leader was the sister to the deceased alpha, she decided perhaps that she might give them time to mourn, and let them have some peace without questioning travelers coming along. She was also grateful to be told of the pack's individual name, as well. 

"Moonspear," She echoed, quietly, thoughtfully. "And the third sister pack, it is Moon...?" She trailed off- hoping she might not seem too obtuse not knowing the name of it off the tip of her tongue. She'd heard it at least once before, but she couldn't be sure what it was called, and did not want to ever offend by calling it the wrong name. Her mother often lumped them all into a category of being one of "The Moonpacks" but that wasn't exactly precise. 

Another couple of names were given to her, and she tongued them silently, hoping she would remember them. Perhaps, she thought, she might not be the best ambassador for the pack. Her memory for names was quite poor. Heph, on the other hand, didn't struggle at all. "You have a good memory, I think," She said, with a light laugh. "For names, locations, everything. How do you keep it all straight?" She asked.

Heph laughed, admittedly she had thought the appelations by which Rodyn had introduced her to the groups, sunman, moonwoman, moonglow, moonspear, confusing at first as well. But the names came more easily as she got to know the wolves attached. Njord and Ray breathed life into Moonspear, as did Chakliux. And Moonwoman into Moonglow. "Moonglow. Although it's more the mother pack. Kukutux, moonwoman, was mother to our alpha and mother to the leader of Moonspear. The Saltshores to the east of us on the coast are also led by a wolf who's daughter to her." She added. Despite the pain still fresh from Samani's death she hoped that it did not mean a severing of ties for Moontide. Kukutux's presence there even after Samani's passing assured her, Sialuk's care for her nephews as well gave her hope that the packs would not grow too distant.

While picking up names had been a skill she had developed as a loner, who often only saw wolves great distances and times apart, it was one that served her well as she visited various packs. But the Moonpacks were different, if only because they had become such a large part of her life. "They're quite a tangle don't worry if the details are slow to pin down. I've had longer to become familiar with these names, and gotten to know wolves in these packs which helps me remember them as more than names but places and faces. If you'd like I can show you some of the plateau which might give you some memories of Moontide?"

you are the best for being so patient with me and my struggles to write with Thyra <3

Moonglow; it was the missing link. Moontide made enough sense, given the fact that it was closer to the ocean, and Moonspear she thought she could remember because the mountain was somewhat spear-shaped. She wasn't sure what to do with this new one- Saltshore- but at least its name was different enough that she wouldn't confuse it with Moontide. Moonwoman made enough sense as a term for the leader of such a pack, though the woman's name itself had almost too many syllables for her to comprehend. 

The general gist was that these wolves were many- and that their names would take time for her to learn. 

Heph, however, was a patient teacher, and offered to help her form memories in the most real of ways- actually taking her so that she could see the place for herself. She smiled and nodded, eyes twinkling. "I can not stay for long, but- yes!" She said, with a little wiggle to her tail. "Does the plateau reach all the way to the sea?" She asked. "Oh- and I have brought this for you, as a gift," She said, as she plucked the soft crossfox pelt up from the ground. "Frrrm wrrrmm" She began, before she set it back down. "Sorry- I will carry it to where you would like to go," She said, grasping the pelt and flicking it across her own shoulders so that she could move along and share conversation.

Heph nodded, she knew the life of a traveller and though she still made time to wander she felt a friendly stab of envy at the possibility of being on the move - even if it was not the kind of mission that allowed one to bed down comfortably too many nights. "Then we'll rustle up something to feed you for the journey back, I remember it being a good journey." She offered with a wide grin and began to move. While there was plenty to see lower on the plateau she took them on a slightly winding path upwards, allowing them to make good time towards the edge of the plateau's reach.

At the offer of the crossfox pelt she grinned and nodded, a warm wag of her tail and genuine thanks on her tongue. "Thank you, it will be well loved and used." Since it was for Moontide she would make sure to set it aside for @Rodyn also so he knew that Thyra had visited.

She shook her head at the queries over their territory, voice bright at the prospect of discussing her home. "Not quite, to the north the gilded bay and its maze of seastacks and the sheer Ravenshook cliffs actually border the water. But once we reach to the high point on the east you can see over the sentinels and more for miles, maybe even Gyrfalcon's keep." While the view from the edge was strategic it was also beautiful to behold, she missed it, sometimes when she was journeying far. Not because she did not like seeing new places, but because it seemed to her a perfect horizon.

Anytime <3 also tag for ref!