Copper Rock Creek Even when the words don't rhyme

For @Nios
Just so I don't forget what I'm listening to

Morganna had done well to avoid the nausea for as long as she had, although she couldn't be certain that it was the midnight cache raiding or insufferable heat of so many bodies in the den that sent her running and retching this morning. She had made short work of the remaining ginger stores and while she had shown @Isuni how to find it herself, but the plants weren't flowering when she pointed them out and she didn't want to confuse the poor woman sending her out for something that would look so different to the last time she had seen it. She had found @Elettra and @Craw before leaving to let them know she might be gone for a day or two, it could be a difficult plant to track down and she didn't want her mothers stores depleted too long for all their sakes.

The journey north had been uneventful, the swollen banks of the Swift River driving her west around the Sacred Grove to try and cross the somewhat less volatile Heartleaf Creek before she resumed her journey north and east. A smile on her face as she remembered the events that transpired the last time she had passed this way. After several hours searching the ghastly woods with little result she decided to head further north to the spring. Ginger did prefer the damp soil after all.

Before she knew it she was at the creek with the red rocks, and even it was more vast than she last remembered. The snow might have been doing its best to cling to the earth but the melt was enough of a confirmation that Spring was well and truly on its way. Something in her stomach tumbled and rolled. Of course they would wake up now she had stopped moving. A roll of her eyes was not enough to hide the quite smile that crossed her face feeling the movement, but she knew how to take a hint and turned back towards the trees, nose to the ground. That ginger had to be around here somewhere.

Home.

He felt a tightness in his jaw as his eyes stared to the distance, noting the dominant scent of another pack nearby. Irritation surged in his chest at the very thought of another pack coming so close to the lands he would call his own one day, and yet the logical side of his mind determined that years had passed and the encroaching pack had the entire right to settle beside what had long ago been abandoned.

His kingdom.

He had been ready to leave it in the hands of Mirren. He had been willing to play the role of the pack’s Second, and follow his duty to his brother.. all for the love of his home and family. And yet Mirren had once more disappeared from his life.. and this time it was different. This time, he was not sure if he would see his tawny brother again, and while he hoped the Tainn had not come to harm.. he knew he was not meant to be the shadow beneath Mirren any longer.

He strode forward, his muzzle giving a delicate shake. He would deal with the nearby pack later – perhaps introduce himself. He was not here to start war or turmoil. He needed to divulge a plan first. So his paws lead him to the creek – the glistening red rocks beneath its surface for which it had been named.

And along the bans edges stood a very welcoming sight – but not one he had expected. “Morganna?” His tone was a deep rumble, and his stocky form stilled, studying the she-wolf he had taken as a lover not long ago. And her scent was indeed very, very different.

'cause its home, but it's gone

She had just taken a rather unlady-like inhale, snuffling like one of those foul beasts rooting through the undergrowth when her name was spoken. Her head jerked upwards, dirty snow clinging to her muzzle, startled eyes wide and ears pinned to her skull. She had noticed the smell of a pack but paid it little mind. There was familiarity in the scent but she seemed to remember finding it much further north, but it wasn't whats'isface from the wooded hills, it was a far more welcome face. "Nios! Yer scared me 'alf ter death!" she greeted with a laugh, a cross-eyed glance at the tip of her nose preceding the paw that rose to swipe the offending blemish away.

Moving to close the distance between them she pushed her now clean muzzle along the underside of his pale tinted jaw, her tail waving steadily as she pulled back to regard the man. "Wouldn't have expected ter see yer this far away from th' Woodlands," her observation accompanied with a grin to convey that she wasn't displeased with this chance encounter. Lowering her voice so as not to draw unwanted attention with the newest inhabitants who knew how closely by (and possibly just as an excuse to draw a little closer) she playfully teased "Do yer come here often?"

LOL waiting for him to be slapped.

It was strange to see her in this setting -- he had shared moments of intimacy with the woman and she certainly captivated him, but now, with the red rocks glistening upon the creek he had been born near, it shed a hint of what he felt possible. She was the leader of Willow Ridge, but would she leave it, to be with him? To raise his old home to further glory? Could he even do such a thing, now that the Creek had neighbors nearby?

He watched her as her gold eyes widened, her ears flattening to her skull. Amusement pressed forward from him with a quirk of his lips as he studied her, and taking a tentative step toward her, the ebony wolf was reminded instantly of the embrace they shared last time. Was she pregnant? He recalled she had taken other lovers -- that remained unimportant for now.

He strode forward then, and closing the distance between them, the swarthy male would make to brush his muzzle to the softness of her cheek, should she let his touch linger, inhaling her familiar scent and allowing his smile to drift to one of pure mischief. "I was born here -- Copper Rock Creek." He paused then, tilting his muzzle back to better study her. "I would see it to its former glory, but it seems a pack has claimed near here." The words left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he would deal with that in time -- for the moment, he was captivated by her once more. "How are you?"

'cause its home, but it's gone

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

She didn't pull away as he drew nearer, going so far as to return his touch by tipping her nose under his chin. She returned his look in kind, a sweep of her tail betraying the ease of the exchange. I was born here, a smile crossed her face. So not all the other local born wolves were as obnoxious as the Thorben brood. Her lip twitched as he seemed to question his claim now that others had moved in. It was a simple lift of her shoulder, smirk betraying her thoughts before they left her mouth. "Run 'em off."While others might not be so ready to resort to violence the past months had bought about a considerable change in Morganna. Look at what trying to talk it out had gotten her.

Her tail ceased its wave with the next question, smirk fading to be replaced by a more neutral expression. "I'm leavin' the Willows and movin' North. I jus' came ter see that the way was still clear this far." What lay directly North of here she wasn't sure, further to the west she kew the ground rose up in stony slopes. With her quickly widening flanks and tiny feet in her lungs reducing her capacity to gain proper air she could only hope that sticking  to the edge of the mountain range would prove less troublesome. "If yer lookin' fer a change o' scenery yer welcome ter join us?" It was an offer, phrased as a question, one she didn't expect an answer to right now. Surely he had a lot to think on before he made such a huge decision.

Morganna was quick to the point -- as always, and the swarthy male cast her a roguish grin, his shoulders lifting in a gentle shrug. He knew nothing about this other pack -- and if he were to do such a thing, he would need to ensure his own forces were larger and stronger. His companion before him might have considered the possibility, given she had ties everywhere -- but he, who had traveled from place to place his entire life.. he had no ties. None to rely on.

But then again, that also did not mean it could stop him from building an army.

While he made no further comment on it, his eyes did shift over the she-wolf, curious about her statement. She was leaving Willow Ridge.. to go elsewhere. And he was invited? The thought pulled at him -- it was a tempting one -- for his eyes were inevitably drawn to the swell of her stomach, and the possibility that they might just have his blood as well.. despite the fact she had made it known there were others. "I need to think about it. Nina is the only tie I have left to Secret Woodlands with my brother gone.. but I can't just leave her.. not yet."

'cause its home, but it's gone