Shallows Edge thorn in my side that i don't want gone

for mr @Askan || Late morning, Cloudy, 5°F (-15°C)

Even though it wasn't snowing this morning, some of the snow from previous days had stuck around. It made her face crinkle with obvious displeasure. Traveling with Plant Boy was hard in the snow. It covered up cool nooks and crannies and made her feel cold after only one small trip. The snow was fun to play with every now and then but she was already begging for it to be gone.

She groaned as she dragged herself out of the den and onward towards the borders. Hawthorne figured she'd find someone out there to pester. Or someone would find her to pester. She had picked up nights like asked with Askan but she still wanted to be an obvious figure in the daylight for Shallows Edge too.

The girl was still just young enough that she shouldn't have to be working so hard but gosh dang she would!

Askan found that sleeping in the Shallows communal den was far more tolerable than it had been back in the Field. There were about the same amount of bodies squished into the small space but at least with these wolves he liked them all, considered them family. Hell, he didn't even mind it when Remington accidentally brushed against him. Though, it went without saying that he always had Reyes at his side, curled up close just as it was meant to be.

Askan had been up for hours, gone about his usual patrol of the borders and was now heading back with a spring in his step. The snow was mounting, soon enough it would be more than just a dusting on the ground but he didn't mind it too much. At least here they didn't have to worry about hilly terrain, back in the Field that had almost been the death of him. Or at least it felt like it.

Weaving through the trees, some evergreen and others not, Askan continued on south till he ran into a certain orange eyed pup.

A smile tugged at his lips till he came to a stop and chuffed in greeting. He hadn't expected to see her about yet, as she had crawled into the den pretty damn late last night.

"Morning sleepy head."He teased, stepping forward to nip teasingly at her nose.

Her tail gave a few quick tired wags behind her as Askan's teeth grazed her nose in a lighthearted nip. She didn't pull back from the rough teasing. Hawthorne usually played back. But her superior had been right in his greeting - she was a sleepy head.

All she did in return was try to shove her head under his. At six months old she was about his size despite still not having all her weight yet. Soon enough she would be ever so slightly taller than the Selwyn. "Mornin'." Hawthorne rumbled before pulling back from him. She knew that she didn't need to be submissive to him all the time but she liked reminding him that she trusted and respected him. The two Edge wolves had done a heck of a lot for her in her short time with them.

"I hope I didn't wake ya coming in last night." The grey and silver girl said with an apology waiting in case she did.

Last night sure must have been tiring for her, as even now in the light of day she looked ready to conk out at any moment. Poor thing. He'd suspected that this would happen but he was feeling nice today, so he wasn't gonna rub it in her face. Yet,maybe another time.

There was no way he couldn't have noticed how tall she was getting, hell they were round about the same height. He selfishly hoped that she'd stop growing, that this was as tall as she was going to get but he had a feeling that she wouldn't. That he'd be dwarfed her, even when she wasn't quite a yearling yet. It was frustrating as hell, he hated his stubby little legs but what could he do? Walk on his tip toes? No, that sounded painful, if not impossible.

Whatever, it wasn't a big deal and it certainly wasn't something he should take out on Hawthorn.

At her question he tilted his head in thought. He'd noticed her come in, only because it had woken Gabe up but had it bothered him? Not really, he'd managed to fall back asleep with ease. Especially since he knew all of his pack mates were accounted for.

"You did but it's not a big problem. One day you'll be sneaky enough to slip in unnoticed, but not today."He said with grin."Did anything catch your interest?" He wouldn't admit it, but Askan was a massive gossip-monger. The way he saw it though, was that he was in charge around here, wasn't it in his best interests to know what happened? Yeah, totally.

She gave him a wide smile. One day. Hawthorne wanted to be so sneaky that no one knew when she came and went. The girl didn't want to wake anyone in the den unless she was purposely trying to.

His question caused her head to tip as she hummed. "Nothing that really stood out. Found a couple muskrats but it's safe to say they get to live another day." She recalled less than gracefully chasing after two of them before they slipped into the Shallows. It was an embarrassing ordeal that caused her to go for a far too cold night swim just to prove those buggers right. At least no one had seen it. "I'm gonna give it a go again tonight if I run across them." Her tail swayed easily behind her.

"What're your plans for the day? Mind if I tag along for a bit?" Hawthorne wouldn't be much of a pest today. Truthfully, she didn't have the energy to tease or tussle with Askan.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Laughs at SE's Random event. Poor kana

Muskrats. Nothing out of the ordinary then, good. As much as he liked a bit of drama to spice things up, the last thing the Edge Lord wanted was for things to get too hectic too fast. They had only just settled in, sorted out the borders and made these woods their own. If shit started hitting the fan now he'd start to feel as though they weren't welcome in these parts. Not that he believed in that sort of superstitious stuff but...Whatever, it was fine. Nothing had happened, all was well.

"Give them hell kid."Askan rumbled, knowing full well that if she saw them again she'd give it her all. Though hopefully this time she wouldn't screw up."By all means."Askan flicked his tail, motioning for her to walk along beside him."I've just finished my patrol, you'll be pleased to know everything is clear."

Which of course it was, Askan ran a tight ship and had a sharp attention to detail. If anything, no matter how faint, was amiss he'd investigate and wouldn't stop till he was content. That habit had served him well in the Field, so he wasn't going to let it go anytime soon.

"Right now though...Was thinking of heading back to the Shallows, was gonna glare at anyone laying on their arse."He said,only half-joking."How have you been getting on with the others? Anything I need to hear about?"His question had multiple facets. On one hand he was asking if Hawthorne and Sachiel had been getting into trouble behind his back. Whilst on the other, he wanted to know how she felt about her pack mates in general.

Percy was...Percy. So he didn't expect anything out of the ordinary there, but what of Cotton and Remington?

She gave a cheeky grin as her tail beat the air behind her. Of course she would! Those muskrats would make her pay for having to take a midnight swim in the cold. She'd bring them back to the caches for someone to munch on. But heavens she hoped they'd save her one for her hard work.

The girl moved with the Edge Lord. Her head gave a pleased nod at his information of his patrol. Things being good meant less time spent barking at unwanted company and more time being productive with hunting, scouting, bonding and anything else. Her and Plant Boy couldn't spend all day barking into oblivion.

The pale fluffy guy uh... Her voice trailed off as she tried to remember a name. Well he taught me how to make owl sounds so I'd say we're pretty good. I spend a lot of time with Pla- Sachiel, though. Hawthorne admitted easily. It was no secret the duo was usually up to something together. We're always scoutin' and stuff. I think we keep each other out of trouble. A small smirk pulling at her lips as she thought about their adventure to the bone hill down south.

"Cottongrass." Askan correctly gently as she struggled to think of the fluffball's name.

Understandably really, as it was a pretty odd name, though, by this point the Edge Lord wouldn't have it any other way. As for him teaching her owl sounds, well he shook his head at that. Typical. That boy-along with Reyes-was owl obsessed. Askan didn't see the allure at all, but it was a harmless hobby he supposed.

"Good."Askan said with a nod, pleased she was making herself busy."You know I'm glad I ran into Sachiel that night. It was weird at the time but...you two get along, it's good to have friends. I grew up with a few siblings but I can imagine that it's...not fun being the only young'un in a pack. At least you two have each other's back."

As far as he was aware, Sachiel had been the only pup where he'd come from. Not having any playmates, even someone to cuddle up with for an afternoon nap sounded pretty awful. They were an odd pair, that much was obvious, but they were a good team.

Cottongrass. Yeah, that must have been him because she didn't know anyone else by that name. It also seemed terribly fitting to the hooting male.

Ya know, when I first met him there was some awfully loud sound at night. We thought each other was some kind of creep. She snortted a tad with laughter. I went after him and found out that he was the furthest thing from some creepy monster. Kept running into him after that. Her shoulder shrugged. Back then he had been a friend in the night, usually not seen in the daylight. Now they were hardly seen far from each other. In fact, she was willing to bet she'd bump into Plant Boy after this if he didn't come barging in soon.

Orange eyes glanced around before she happily blurted. I really like this place.