Blacktail Deer Plateau sk8er boi

backdated to early may, @Solveig @Rusalka, others welcome to join!

fastened in her jaws she carried three gift-satchels crafted of worked hides and stuffed with salted meats, fresh berries and sun-dried seeds. she'd set off with a kiss to her husband's cheek and the message that'd she return once all of the gifts found new homes and alliances were in order.

it was to the north she set her first course, aware from the wind that a pack rest near enough for a day's journey. she slowed as she came to their claim, mindful and respectful of their established borders.

she set two of the satchels off to the side while placing one neatly at her feet. a tip of her head called for the leaders of this place before she settled her muscle weary limbs and let herself fall to an orderly position upon her haunches.

a call rises, stirring rusalka out of his reverie. ravensthorpe had a visitor. unexpected and unusual. since the small batches of morningsong wolves had ceased visiting shortly after they had first established, the borders had been quiet. and admittedly, it's given rusalka a false sense of security.

with paws tied, aiding in raising his growing children, it is easy to forget that he does not live in a secluded bubble of just his family.

his path alters to intercept the stranger at the borders.

i am rusalka, greets the commander as he approaches; gaze scrutinizing her and the satchels she has with her. this is ravensthorpe. formal greeting out of the way, he turns to the path of no-nonsense. what brings you to our borders?

Skip me as needed!

Ever interested in his father's duties, Arrax followed after Rusalka's trail like a shadow as a call came from their borders. He had intended to simply tail his father for the day, to silently learn his routines, but the summons offered a far more interesting learning experience.

He approached just as Rusalka spoke, greeting the woman. Arrax's eyes flicked first from the bundles on the ground – his nose wiggled as the smell of dried meats tempted him – then to the stranger. She was a small-statured woman, very much unlike those of Raventhorpe, and he wondered at her reason for both the meats and her reason for being there.

As if to impress the stranger, the boy pulled himself upright into a tall, proud bearing to mirror his father despite his gangly adolescent physique.

a man approaches from the shadows and she rises to greet him with a courteous dip of her head. it had been some time since her days of travel and negotiation, but she feels herself slipping back into the ways as if they were second nature.

a boy appears from the foliage, young and full of puffed up vigor, and she greets him with the same well mannered dip of her snout. it is to the man that she turns her attention to settle upon, eyes calm with a civil glow.

"my name is nephele. i lead a group, yellowstone, alongside my husband in the plains to the south." she gives the man a moment to absorb the information shared thus far before continuing, "we seek good tidings with our neighbors through alliances and trade." she takes a moment to unfold the satchel and gently push it forward with her snout.

"i've brought salted meats, fresh berries and sun-dried seeds as a gift." even if she would leave without establishing neighborly trade and friendship with this group, she thought it well to not leave an enemy either, and a gift bag would help ensure this.