Ravensblood Forest there's a fine line between right and wrong

though rusalka does not venture too far from the plateau, letting @Solveig know that he will not be far if she should need him, he widens his patrol outside of their borders.

there's no real reason for it, other than he wants to map the layout of the neutral territories directly touching their borders just in case.

he starts with ravensblood forest and instantly finds the towering sequoias weeping crimson sap to be unsettling.

the cairn lets out a low rumble; peering up at the canopy above as a raven noisily calls down to him. he ignores the cawing bird and keeps going; golden gaze searching for notable landmarks.

It wasn't often she parted from Sapphique for very long, but Rae was restless. She took to skimming the coastline, searching for other packs along the shore, and when that proved futile she turned her course inland. Her path brought her through an unfamiliar forest, a strange place filled with the noise of birds and trees with crimson sap.

The toxicologist in her was fascinated. She spent time studying it, wandering from tree to tree until a familiar scent carried to her on the breeze. One she hadn't expected to ever encounter again.

Rae moved in the direction of the scent until she found the man, and called out with a smirk, Hey, you. You look better than the last time I saw you.

it takes rusalka a moment to recognize her when his head swings in her direction; golden gaze taking her in with soldierlike assessment. the puzzle pieces snap together quickly in the next millisecond: she was the first face he'd seen in these lands; half-drowned and probably more on the brink of death than he'd like to admit.

he realizes now that he doesn't even know her name.

oh, for sure, murmurs the cairn in wily agreement. not half drown and no where as close to death as i was that day.

in fact, the teekon wilds, despite his rocky start upon her lands, have thus far been fairly good to him.

Rae grinned at that, moving close enough to take in the new scents on his coat. Got yourself a pack too, huh? Fancy, She beckoned for him to walk with her. The trees still held some of her attention, fascinating as they were. Part of her was beginning to wonder about the potential toxicity of that sap...

Whatcha doin' in a creepy ass place like this, anyway? Rae gestured to one of the bleeding trees. Kinda ominous. Of course, she was here too — but this kind of weird shit was right up her alley.

a pack, he agrees. a wife, some kids... he trails off, though it is the latter two that he is the most proud of. though he and solveig haven't professed love of any sort, there is attraction and some sort of affection between them; and for rusalka ... that's enough.

i've come a long way from half dead upon the shore. and he hadn't anticipated any of it. hadn't had it set as a goal.

his only goal had been escaping the ever looming, tyrannical shadow of kraken cairn.

it borders our new claim upon the plateau, rusalka explains; casting a forlorn glimpse at the sap bleeding trees again. wouldn't be a good guardian if i didn't know the routes of the neighboring territories. but he wasn't very fond of this place and it shows in the tense set of his shoulders.

and you? what draws you to this ... creepy ass place? he turns her question back to her, wily smirk tugging at the edges of his lips.