Elk were the reason that Serach was so far from home that day. He had caught their scent the previous day and had decided to follow them north, through the ghostly vestiges of Spectral Woods and through the dying red leaves of Red Fern Forest. The cold wind had nipped at his coat throughout the journey, reminding him with urgency that winter was soon to be upon them and that any successful hunts made now could mean life or death in just a few short weeks. Once upon a time, he would have had to skirt the territory of Magnolia Glen - perhaps even confront them over rights to the elk herd, but those days were long behind them. He hesitated only a moment at what used to be their pack borders before boldly crossing to continue his pursuit. He had told @Aponi where he was going, but he did not want to be gone more than a few days, so time was of the essence and he could not waste time being respectful over boundaries to a pack that had long since vanished into the surrounding woods.

The signs of the herd were strong - broken branches, missing foliage, droppings. By the time the dull rumble of water reached his ears, Serach was closing in on locating his quarry and actually seeing just how many beasts were in their number. But it had been nearly two days now with little rest, and his throat was scratchy from the wind. Satisfied that he was close enough to pick up the trail again, he followed the sound of the water to Secret Falls, a place he knew from his diplomacy trip to Hearthwood River to see @Kisla.

He emerged from the wood near the base of the falls, where the sound of the water was loud and the spray blocked much of his view. But it did not block his nose, and before he could look for a place to take a drink, he was aware that he was not alone. "Hello?" he called, his voice loud and competing with the sound of the water behind him. "I know you're there!" It wasn't a challenge, but a statement. Serach was happy to leave whatever wolf alone so long as they were willing to do the same.

There was no reply to Serach's first call, and for a split moment, he hesitated for calling out again with more confidence that there was, in fact, somebody else with him. The second call had its intended effect, and turning his head to look downstream to look towards the source of the noise. The voice - her voice - said she wasn't trying to hide, but Serach wasn't able to see her from where he was standing; too many trees blocked his view. Wanting to put a face to a voice and scent, he abandoned his place at the base of the Falls and moved downstream, picking his way through the trees. As he did so, he called out again in response to her own awkward question, "Unless there's somebody else here, I mean you." He had only smelled the one wolf, but with sound and sight impaired (at least by the base of the waterfalls), it wouldn't surprise Serach if there was another wolf nearby who had not roused to his call.

The fog generated by the spray of the falls dissipated quickly, and as Serach made his way towards the sound, he grew increasingly confident that it was just the one wolf. She wasn't that far away either - just a minute or so and just far enough downstream that the water was a little quieter and the sounds of Secret Falls were a little more dull. She was lean, compared to Serach's well-fed physique. Probably a lone wolf, he thought as he approached. "Didn't mean to scare ya, just wanted to make sure we wouldn't bump into each other by surprise. These Falls are known for playing tricks on people." He had never experienced it first hand, but his pack mates had told him the rumors about the falls. "I've been tracking an elk herd for my pack. You haven't seen any signs of them, have you?" Maybe he would get lucky and his quest would be completed early.

She seemed uncertain, and Serach couldn't blame her. Meeting strangers, especially as they had, always came with a risk. But he wagged his tail in her response to her own, and his lips pulled upwards into a wry smile that he hoped was reassuring enough to demonstrate that he really didn't mean her any harm. He dipped his head in silent acknowledgment of her thanks, although he wasn't entirely sure he believed that she hadn't been scared by his sudden presence and yelling. I would have been, he mused to himself as she answered his question about the elk. It had been too much to ask, he knew, but he couldn't help but smile as she rambled on. Definitely young, he thought.

"Yeah, they're the big ones," he affirmed, answering her question about the moose. Moose were doable, but only with the right set of wolves. Remembering the moose than had run rampant through Oak Tree Bend's territory when @Sahalie and @Drift were still just puppies, he decided that it was worth continuing his trek to track down the elk instead. They were big, but certainly less so than the giant beasts that were moose. "I've got a big pack to feed, so yeah, we need something a bit bigger than a deer," he told her. "Smart of you to run from the moose though. They don't normally hurt wolves, especially if you're not hunting them, but you never know when they're feeling ornery." Wasn't that the truth?

He smiled at her offer to join him, and after taking a moment to think about it, he nodded his head in agreement. The Bend leader really didn't have much to lose, after all. This had been a tracking mission - they wouldn't certainly not be trying to hunt anything together. "Sure, I'd appreciate that. I was following the trail of a herd that passed by near here when I decided to take a break and grab a drink," Serach explained, shifting his body forward towards Lena. Walking passed her, he approached the water's edge and dipped his head to drink. He hadn't actually done that part yet. "Ready to go?" He asked her when he was finished, lifting his head and looking back towards the way he had come. "I'm Serach Donata, by the way. I'm the leader of the Oak Tree Bend pack down south of here."

Yellow green eyes widening in shock, Serach stared dumbfounded at this girl. Mere moments before she had stood before him as a stranger, somebody he would more than likely forget about once their quest to seek out the elk herd had ended. But his introduction had started something, although as he watched her struggle to squeak out words, he wasn't entirely sure what it was. It set him on edge, and he instinctively drew back a step. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, but he mustered up enough to reply to her question. "Yes...that's what I said," he confirmed his identity. Why does it matter?

She answered that questions moments later, when she managed to push out a whisper so quiet Serach doubted he would have heard her if his attention wasn't laser-focused on her at that moment. It was a question that created more confusion than it alleviated, and Serach could only stare quietly at the girl in front of him. He didn't recognize her - not even a little bit. She was pretty, but her tawny coat and grey-green eyes were fairly unremarkable as far as markings went. They were certainly not the signature markings of the Tainn family. "I might be," he finally replied after studying her long enough to reassure himself that he really did not know who this girl was. That didn't make her wrong though - he was definitely an uncle to more than a few young wolves who walked these woods. "Are you one of Kisla's?"

That made the most sense to him as Hearthwood River wasn't that far from here. But she did not smell like his sister, nor the larger River pack and he found himself questioning again. Fenru had children as well, but that was a larger stretch. Still, it was worth asking, "Or perhaps Fenru is your father?" His heart skipped a beat at the possibility; it had been so long since the oldest of Corinna's boys had made an appearance in Relic Lore that Serach would be content with hearing how he was through his daughter.

Her "no" was like an electrical pulse straight to Serach's heart. Despite physical limitations, he could have sworn it had started to beat even faster - the dull thud like a thunderstorm in his ears. Not Kisla's...that had to mean Fenru, his brain connected the dots and before he had truly time to process, or register the second no, his tail had begun to wag and a broad smile began to appear on his pale face. But the thunderous noise in his ears did not sufficiently block Lena's words, and her negative response - she was not one of Fenru's left Serach frozen as his body, heart, and mind competed for expressive control.

A half formed smile still on his face, the Bend leader's hind legs stopped their shaking and gave out. Less than gracefully, Serach fell back onto his haunches, his eager tail now distinctly still. Slowly his face merged through the expressions of his emotions - fading from smile to befuddlement to irritated confusion. There was really only one possibility left, as far as he knew. @Aiyana was the only other Tainn-Donata likely to be alive, although, she wouldn't know I existed he realized as he stared at Lena.

Whatever game the girl had been playing by keeping the truth from him came to an abrupt end, although it was not clear to Serach how exactly he should respond. Sceral? Serach's own littermate, who had disappeared so long ago. The older of the two Donata brothers had long since accepted that his agemate was dead - just one more casualty to the cruel game mother nature played. But evidence to the contrary was standing right in front of him, and he had no idea how to respond. Meeting @Kisla's or @Fenru's offspring would have been a pleasure, but Serach had been able to get closure with each of them. They had not simply disappeared into the wood, only to return in the form of a tawny girl who had opened up a pandora's box of emotions.

"Sceral is dead," he responded, his voice dull. He knew it was a lie as soon as the words left his lips, but it was important that Lena understood just how extraordinary this moment was for him. She might have been floored by the coincidence of finding her uncle in a forest so large as Relic Lore, but discovering a believed dead brother's progeny was even more extraordinary. "Start from the beginning. All of it. Where is he now? What happened? Why didn't he come back?" He tone booked no argument, but it occurred to him that she had not stopped speaking after her introduction. "And what do you mean you met the leader of Oak Tree Bend?"