Her brothers request for information had initially set a frown upon her face, but after a day and a night to think it over she came to see reason. If anyone was going to get far enough away to look for @Piety it was going to be her, and as much as she didn’t like the woman (outright loathed her for the torment she had caused poor @Skoll and @Sven ) she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to mount a search, even if it was only a little one.

There was little reason to head north other than this is where their brother was, she travelled through the gnarled forest, her fur bristling and head turning in the unnatural silence. It was only broken by the snapping of bones underfoot and the wind rattling branches overhead. Every now and then she could have sworn she heard a whisper in some foreign tongue, but she did not believe in ghosts so kept her eyes forward and her feet moving. She could only imagine the sort of people that might think to settle here.

When finally the suffocating cover of the trees was broken, she found herself staring at a familiar spring. A shiver ran down her spine as she relived the memories, how he promised not to leave her. A snort left her muzzle then as she kicked a copper coloured pebble into the creek. Winter would be on them soon enough and if he didn’t return then what? Then she would have her brother, and she would have her nephew. They would be enough.

Her head had lowered to pass over the rocks, searching for any sign of Piety (or Renier) but only half-heartedly. She didn’t care if the pale woman never came back and if Renier didn’t get back soon she had a rough bearing on the direction she would need to travel to drag him back. An involuntary twitch of her ear was the first hint that she wasn’t alone, so she slowed her breathing but did not startle. She had played this game before.

Growing up with a brother like Skoll had it’s advantages. She had had one too many icky things dropped on her head to ever completely let her guard down. It had been the wheeze that caught her attention first, as something that didn’t quite belong. Accompanied by steady footfalls she could at least appreciate whatever was at her back wasn’t trying to be sneaky. Or maybe they were but just incapable?

Movement in her peripheries finally caused the young wolf to lift her head. Her face remained blank but internally she recoiled just a little, wondering if perhaps ghosts were real and this had been the whispering voice that chased her through the woods. Perhaps this was the old man her brother had killed, back for retribution? For surely those scars spoke of some fearsome fate. Her jaws parted but no sound came forward, so instead she closed her mouth and watched. Wondering if this was all just a figment of her imagination.

His movements were grounded, chasing away any belief that this might instead be a spectre and his voice was the final confirmation, like the crunching of loose pebbles against sand but smooth at the same time. She had never heard anything like it before. Her eyes narrowed for a second, her head raising in defiance of his question. “No.” was her single syllable response.

Her tail still rested low, but her interest was clear in the cant of her head and the way her peachy eyes roved over the rest of him. It wasn’t often she encountered others not of her pack, or associated to it by some alliance or other. She allowed a small smile to tug at the corner of her mouth, allowing herself to think that if he had intended her any harm he would have ambushed her in a similar way to which she ambushed Titan. Lowering her head again, this time with a conspiratorial smirk “Fer a moment I thought yer might ‘ave been th’ ghost.” she confessed, her toothy smile slowly widening with each word, wondering if he had heard any tales to match her own.

There was no denying the woods to the south were creepy enough on their own without knowledge of murder most foul. She even went so far as to check over her shoulder, confirming they were, in fact alone and that no interlopers were watching them from the undergrowth before she finally introduced herself. “Morganna Archer.”

Fairytales, Like she was some child, easily persuaded to stay in bed in case the Yeth Hound came to steal her away. The shake of her head was short, almost missing the way he used her full name as a closer, “Not usually.” She confessed again, what was it about this stranger that was making her so talkative? Perhaps it was the simplicity of speaking to an adult, rather than her nephew Sven. Or maybe it was the simplicity of life away from the Willows? Free from the underlying currents of tension, wondering who was going to snap first. If something didn’t give soon it could very well be her.

She could have told him the tale that had her so unsettled, she could have asked if he had seen either of the wolves she sought. She could have simply stepped across the copper coloured rocks and vanished into the trees, her own thirst quenched and still miles between her and her destination, instead she folded her hind legs, her tail sweeping to the side, the tip resting against her toes as she regarded the stranger again. His scent was enough to tell her the basics, loner, hadn’t been here long. “What brings you this way?” she finally questioned, there were no packs that she was aware of in the area, the days were growing colder. There were less adults among the Ridge than she was comfortable with, and with four growing mouths to feed, no opportunity should be willingly passed up.

She needed to know more.

Tragedy and coincidence. She tried to keep the scowl from touching the corners of her eyes and mouth, entirely dissatisfied with the answer but also impressed before she was easily distracted by his next statement. Perhaps he had a very broad definition of ‘around here’, but instinctively she shook her head. “South past th’ Mountain where th’ Willow’s meet the Heights.” she clarified. “Mother leads, but I’m ‘er second…” for now she revealed with a toothy smile. Her position had been earned rightfully, lending some weight to her confidence. “Lookin’ fer a place ter weather th’ winter?” she enquired in a more sultry tone, pointedly giving him another looking over, a feral light lurking behind her eyes.

With a bit of meat on his bones he might scrub up ok, and with Renier gone her prospects among the pack were non-existent. Her maternal instincts newly awoken not only with the addition of sisters, but through caring for her brothers son, had cemented in her mind the desire to have children of her own when spring came around again. Her mother had managed just fine without her father, and she was certain with a willing participant she could manage just as well once the deed was done.