Blacktail Deer Plateau So Long Since I've Seen Your Smile

This time Heph came not to trade but to offer words and so she carried nothing on her back and travelled swiftly. When she arrived at the borders she did not cross, instead calling out with her own name because there was a chance that someone within might recognize it and know that she was not an enemy, and a request without any hurry or urgency to her voice to be met. There she lingered on the borders. It had taken time to track down the new holdings of the pack and yet parts of the scent were familiar and she did not think she was wrong in her guess that this is where the wolves of Gyrfalcon's keep had moved.

Looking for @Solveig or @Thyra but all welcome!

Thyra lifted her head to hear the call, ears perking at the sound of Heph's voice. 

One moment later, her obnoxiously thick-skulled younger brother rammed his head into her chest, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying back a couple feet, to land so abruptly on her own bottom that the wind was shaken right back into her with a sickening gasp. She recovered with a groan, lifting a paw to bring her brother to a halt, giving him the win for yet another spar. Oddly enough, though, he had stopped on his own, and looked fairly apologetic. "Is fine," She croaked. "Let's go."

He was forgiven easily enough, for having caught her off guard. To be fair, he'd been charging toward her before Heph's call had even rung out, so it was her flaw for allowing herself to get distracted and take her eyes off her opponent for long enough for him to strike. 

There was urgency in Heph's tone, and while there was some soreness in her movements, she moved to greet the leader of Moontide fondly, her brother at her side. 

"Heph! You have made it!" She said, her cheeks already beginning to burn from the smile that pinched lines in high on her cheekbone. "Welcome to the new hold of Raventhorpe; and this is my brother, Baldr."

he can likely be skipped! I'll interject with him on and off maybe but otherwise he won't hold up the thread.

He'd been worried that she might step to the side, as she often did- and perhaps he'd charged with more gusto than either of them could truly manage for when he made his mark, he felt a singing pain through his head. He staggered a bit in the wake of the collision, having felt the whoosh of his sister's breath as it was knocked out of her. Someone had howled- in the very crucial moment before impact. He hadn't been coordinated enough to swerve, and he'd been going too fast to bail; he'd definitely won this fight, but he felt a bit guilty that it had come about because his sister had been distracted. 

"I am sorry- I did not think that was going to work," he confessed guiltily as they moved along, and he lumbered along next to his sister at a rangy pace. He was glad to be invited, as he often was. He was being primed, he felt, likely to follow in his father's footsteps to become another guardian, and he would learn from these meetings as much as he could. 

The wolf who had come to the borders smelled of saltwater. It reminded him of his birthplace in the Keep, as the strong winds often brought with them the scent of brine, and he smiled to remember it now. His sister greeted the woman fondly,  though he remained back a pace and when he was introduced, he bobbed his head and sat down. "Hael og sael," He greeted.

Heph grinned widely, a slight tilt in her head when she thought she saw a bit of stiffness in the movement of one of the wolves approaching. But when Thyra greeted her she wagged her own tail. "Thyra it's good to see you again, you look well! I hope and Raventhorpe have settled well?" The flatlands were a good place for the herds and heading into the territory she could detect many trails so it seemed as if their territory would provide them plenty.

When Thyra introduced the wolf by her side she smiled, turning to face him and tipping her head in greeting. HIs words did not mean anything to her, but he sounded respectful and friendly enough in his greeting, an ethos she sought to return in kind. "Baldr, a pleasure to meet you." Her voice was warm.

Again she turned to Thyra, her words still excited but more informative and less rushed and hurried. "I came to invite Raventhorpe to a hunt in a territory just south of here, Hoshor plains, to be held before the next full moon. Moontide hopes to gather many wolves from different packs to make the hunt large enough to help all of our caches this winter." She explained though she knew that the other wolf would see quickly the benefits and potential dangers in such a meeting. There was strength in numbers but also more mouths to feed, the hope was that with more wolves they would be able to gather more prey than any of the packs individually, although such bounty was never guaranteed.

"Very well," She said. "Our pack has grown too- the wolves of Epoch came to live with us here, so we have better numbers for the hunt." She explained. There were still no other wolves who were her own age, but she would simply have to get used to that. She missed even her littermates, who had been left behind in her homeland almost a year ago now. 

The prospect of a hunt was encouraging; she wasn't sure how many wolves they could spare, given their new claim and the addition of several other children to the pack, but she knew that her mother and stepfather might rise to the occasion. "I will spread the word among my family; Hoshor plains to the South, before the next full moon?" She asked, for verification.

"Yes. if you're able to make it find me, I'd love to hunt beside your or simply catch up before the hunt." She replied, though in winter it was harder to spare wolves the season was still fresh and she had hope that with the short distance to travel Raventhorpe would make themselves a welcome addition to the bunch. The news that Epoch had joined with Raventhorpe was interesting, she recalled that @Rodyn may have met with those wolves and resolved to tell him of the news so if he sought them again he would know they had merged. "I'm glad your pack is growing and strong." She offered, because she knew from Greyfalcon that they had sought more to bolster their numbers.

"It will be done," She assured Heph, oblivious yet to the few changes that would prevent her from going altogether. Still, the idea of it sounded enticing. A great big hunt with wolves from other packs- she might actually, finally, get to find other wolves her own age to hang out with! In Raventhorpe, she had always existed as kind of an awkward teenager, in between the adults and the bumbling children. 

"We are as well. I am sure it will grow more come Springtime, knowing my mother," She said with a chuckle, and then she gestured with a tilt of her chin. "Come- I have some food down in the mossy chamber where we have our pack meetings. Would you come and eat with me?"

"I'd love to if it isn't too much trouble." Heph grinned a wag of her tail glad to have business out of the way so they could catch up. If Thyra was in the mood to share she would hear about Epoch and Raventhorpe. Laughter at the news that Raventhorpe might grow more in the coming season. And she would share too of Moontide, of Moonsong and its formation and of Rodyn's children as well as Phox and of the danger that Marina faced and Chakliux's hunt.

I'm good to fade here? <3 we should thread them again to catch up too after the hunt!