Sacred Grove break the silence

She could help herself from frowning when she learned that Wraith was unfamiliar with her family history. But if he wasn't from here, then it wasn't a true test of any sort of legacy. She stood up a little straighter as she tried to imagine the end of the mountains, assuming without any provocation that they just continued until the edge of the earth. It was surprising to here there were more than just these mountains, too. The world just got bigger and bigger every day, and she really wished it would stop. 

Before they went looking for her brother, as generous as the offer was, she had something to settle. "The willows? As in Willow...uhh...uh.. it started with... an rrrrrrrrr..." It had been awhile since she had run into her pale friend Sven. And he really did not mention the name of his pack so much. But how many willows were there that this man could be talking about two different packs? "Don't... don't tell me. Rr.... River?" Her guess ended with a high-pitch, uncertain tone. Didn't sound right at all, but it was an R word. Most packs, Sahalie supposed, were near rivers. Except the mountain ones. There weren't really rivers there.

"I know somebody from there."

Wraith sat up with interest when she spoke with some familiarity of his current pack, ears pricked forward and eyes curious. He'd been just about to open his mouth to correct her when she earnestly asked him not to. The dark wolf bit back a grin and waited patiently for her to attempt to guess. Impressed that she knew enough of the name that it started with an R, he nodded in acceptance. "Willow Ridge." What a well traveled - or at least well educated - pup to know of places and packs so far from her own home!

When he was her age, Wraith had known only his own territory like the back of his paw, and had done only minimal exploring outside of that until the events that led him to leave his packlands forever behind.

At her mention of knowing someone from his pack, Wraith stood and tilted his head. Amazing, this little one was! "Oh yeah?" How pitiful would it be should she know of a wolf even he had not yet come to visit with in his own pack? It was then that the black male knew he should really take the time to get to know his new family and branch out from the few he did know. A pack was meant to work as a team and how could they do that effectively if they were so scattered?

"What's their name?"

Ridge. The momentary fidgeting of her lips was the only sign she gave explicitly as she thought to herself, Stupid. Though she wondered if the ground really got any rockier in the territory of trees with dripping leaves. The land in general here was so different that, truly, it would not be a surprise. On the other side of the mountain, her side, every tree grew closer, it was darker but it felt comfortable. The sunlight was harsh here. The ground might seemed to be imbued with some sort of magic that made her paws tingle, yet she missed the familiar wafts and gentle caress of the tendril's of mist. Spectral Woods was just as magical as this place. Minutes ago she had cursed her homeland for being a dingy graveyard, but that had been before the coyotes. Her home didn't have coyotes.

The man seemed surprised that she would know someone from his pack. Though, given that she did not know many other wolves from these lands beyond the dark woods, perhaps he had a right to his wonder. "Mhm!" she chirped with a nod, "His name is @Sven, he's my age. We've hung out a few times. Usually on my side of the mountain. And I know about his dad's siblings, Ravenna and Niles.. Though," she leaned in and her voice got dangerously low, "Truth be told I hear that neither Niles nor Ravenna are very nice. They ain't nice to Sven." The volume picked back up, she seemed cheerful again, "But I never met them."

"Is Willow Ridge far from here?"

Amazing. While Wraith did know of the pup she mentioned, the boy's siblings were more elusive. Just how close were the packs in these southern lands that those spread far and wide even knew so much about each other? Perhaps he'd simply grown isolated up in his old mountains. Visitors were few and far between, like ghosts only passing through on their way to the next life. Her change in tone earned an amused snort from the male. So spunky, this one! It was hard not to admire her for it.

"Maybe we ought to teach them a lessen then, eh?" he rumbled with a grin. "Your siblings should always be protected. There's no better ally in a pinch." Wraith's amber gaze moved away. In his case, there was no greater curse.

"And no, it's not very far at all. A bit south of here." Wraith glanced behind him. "Back the way I came. I heard the commotion from the territory." His lips peeled back at the thought. Coyotes so close to pack lands were not something he cared for. Perhaps he would mention it to @Craw and the pair of them could go hunting. If one of the pack's pups had wandered just a little too far... Danger being so close was less than ideal.

Forcing the sour expression away, he smiled again at Sahalie. "Would you like to go visit?"

LOL. can't refuse a visit to WR. Super back dated but OH WELL! you start???

Her mouth opened in a neat little circle, surprised at the mischievous offering of the adult. She did, of course, agree with him that it was her job as Drift's sister to protect him — which she did intend to do once she found him— whether he liked it or not. Despite the strangeness of their relationship growing up, she would never have refused to play games with him if he were ever to ask her. And she expected him to do the same for her. But what sort of a lesson could they teach? Ravenna and Niles weren't even Sven's siblings, they were his dad's. Her grin was slower to take than Wraith's, but it spread just the same eventually. How could she disagree with so genial a man?  "Yeah!"

It wouldn't even be that big of a deal to pop over to the willows, since it was not a great distance between here and there apparently. Her tail thumped behind her on the ground. "Would I ever! You can show me the droopy trees and stuff! I'd like that!" She leapt to her feet, her face hovering only inches away from a man she had only just met. He had of course, saved her from coyotes, and could not be a bad person. To Sahalie, good wolves never did bad things. Her world was still very black and white.

"Let's go!"

- fade -

(This post was last modified: Feb 17, 2016, 04:09 AM by Sahalie.)