Kino ventured to the base of the oddly formed cliff, its presence looming over him in a way that made the fur along his shoulders prickle. It made him feel like he was being watched with a wary eye and he, in turn, turned his topaz gaze on it with some disdain. How an inanimate thing could make him feel that way he would never know, but he gave himself a shake to try and rid himself of the feeling.

He’d come down here with the simple task of making sure that their water source remained open for the pack to quench their thirst. Ice had formed thickly over the surface of the shallow lake, but here and there were spots which were broken through in order to keep it available to them. He knew where the other holes were, but decided he might as well open another one anyways. Venturing onto the ice he moved a little ways from the shore with short, shuffling steps in order not to fall. Last time he’d gone out onto the ice he’d managed to fall on his ass and make a fool of himself. He was rather determined not to repeat that action. Once he was in a place that he liked he paused, peering around himself through the mist that had collected and made their new packland rather...ominous. His light pelt blended in rather well with the environment, but the temperature had a tendency to make the liquid droplets freeze to the end of his hairs which wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

He turned his mind back to his work, breathing out a puff of cold air that formed a cloud in front of his face. Then, with a deep breath he rose up onto his back paws and came down hard on the surface with a grunt. A faint crackling was heard. He repeated it, muscles bunching at he rammed at the surface with gritted teeth as it jolted his forelegs. After his repeated attempts, it took a 5th times before the ice gave way and his forelegs and chest were soaked in the frigid waters. His breath escaped with a hiss and he pulled himself out, backing up and poking around to further break up the hole with his paws. Prickles likes needles moved along his legs and chest and he clenched his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. Man, he hated doing that.

His auds flickered backward at the sound of pawsteps on the shoreline and he turned his head to peer past the mist, taking a few shuffled steps forward to make out the form of his dark friend. "Hey, I can think of more productive things to do than freezing yourself," she quipped and he chuckled, shuffling the rest of the way to the shore. When he got closer he made sure to give himself a good shake, splattering what little water that clung to his pelt onto her with a mischievous grin. It felt better, more normal, now that they were back to joking with each other. Things felt a little lighter even, which made living here at least a little more bearable. As long as she was around, things would always be more bearable to him.

“Sleep, probably. It was freezing without you last night so I didn’t get much,” he said, though the relaxed posture he held and the grin he still held showed he was simply poking fun at her. The mist had likely washed away any scent that had clung to her pelt. Plus, they’d made an agreement to trust each other. It seemed like Morganna had had Hal running errands lately so he had tried to not think much of it. She’d always had a good reason.

When she said she wanted to talk about stuff his heart gave a stupid little flop in this chest, his brow quirking upwards in a curious fashion. Then, she quickly added on pack stuff and a bit of disappointment settled in his chest but he gave a nod to show that he was listening. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting her to want to talk about, but he’d been foolish to think it would be anything otherwise. After all, the subject was the most important thing on their plate at the moment.

She asked if she had any idea how to form a pack and honestly...he had no freaking clue. It was just as much of an enigma to him as it was to her. “Ah...no,” he said with a sheepish look, a little embarrassed that he’d given her the idea but had nothing to back her up with. “I mean...I feel like some things are pretty common sense. Find a place and once you decide on it, set up some borders to let others know ‘Hey, keep out’. That sort of thing. And, I don’t really think just the two of us could do it alone. I say maybe two more? We already have Cas and I’ll assume that Larkspur will come with us so that should make it kind of easier,” he rattled off, head tilting in his usual way to show that he was in thought. “Do you, uh...do you think Spieden and the kids will join us?” he questioned gently, unsure. He didn’t know the woman very well. In fact, other than her name he didn’t know her at all.

As for the territory, he also hadn’t given much thought to that. He gave a small ‘hmm’. “Perhaps the Red Fern Forest?” he said. It was very pretty most of the year and he already knew the territory like the back of his paw. Honestly, the thought of forging a pack there excited him.

Kino could only nod to her uncertainty. Of course Spieden had just gotten done running from something, it didn’t make much sense for her to run again. Besides, she’d picked this pack on her own and had stayed there even when Hal and Kino had not which meant she had to have picked this place for a reason, right? The woman had children to think about and a new life ahead of her, perhaps it was a little unfair to expect her to displace all of that again.

The sound of pawsteps approaching came and he turned his head in time to get a few good whacks right to the face. At first he was confused, brows scrunching together before he saw who it was that was joining them. Then, his confusion turned into a scowl and he turned forward grumpily. Ah yes, the burr that hadn’t seemed to fall out of their fur had joined them. What luck. And, the man even had the audacity to shove himself between them. He swallowed the growl that wanted to bubble up his throat, schooling himself to a more neutral expression. “The only other option is further down south, but I’m not sure where we could go there. Everything is the copse is so thick. I mean, it would make for good defense but it’s even murkier than spectral is,” he commented absently, still miffed at their new company’s presence and their forced separation.