Whitestone Monadnock childish riot

For @Craw and @Morganna . Set right after her acceptance. Please allow Craw and Pi to have a couple rounds first before Morg comes crashing in to join them c:

"Come with me."

So she did. Following next to the man who called himself Craw. It was a name she would grow to respect and hopefully trust. "Pleasure to meet you. And yes, Morganna and I do have a history." Her voice gentle and practically loud enough to only be for his ears. "Thank you for bringing me in, Craw. I understand my gifts weren't much but I do plan to make it up through my work here." Her tail swayed rhythmically behind her pale form. She planned on staying her for a while. Or at least until Morganna (or anyone in the pack for that manner) decided it was time to take another ear.

She glanced over to look at Craw briefly. He was a rather large male, unique coloration, and face covered in a collection of scars. The pale Santoro liked to think it was very obvious why Morganna would be attracted to such a wolf. He seemed to be the role model for your typical rough-tough guy. While Piety didn't think Morganna was exactly the model of a rough wolf she was damn close enough. The Santoro even had a missing ear to prove such a thought. Yet she had also noticed the Archer woman had almost gained a much cooler atmosphere. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly Piety thought of her. By no means were any of her thoughts ill, though.

# C W T

If nothing else, then at least @Morganna would never be boring. Craw had never accused her of such, of course, and the swarthy woman was hardly at risk of being dull, but this was something else. All that concern and humming and hawwing over whether or not to accept a white female because it might antagonise his mate, and now this? Had she changed her mind about the whole thing, or was this some kind of ploy? Was there some ulterior motive behind this? Just being able to snub her nose at her brother and say ha, look, your bitch is mine now?

He didn't entirely mind; it was actually rather amusing. The moment she'd brought her fifth gift, Piety certainly didn't belong to Skoll any more.

The one-eared woman (and Craw had to resist the recurring urge to stare at her missing appendage) was soft-spoken and polite, apologetic for her lesser presents - in all ways, nothing like either her son or once-lover. It was all just bizarre. Mulling over his response - not because he lacked for any, but had so many to choose between - he led her up the well-trod goat track which would take them to the top of the monadnock, so she might see her new home. Because she belonged to him now. Glancing down and back at the woman whose very presence he still found baffling, he chose bluntness.

"Forgive me for asking," he rasped, not really caring if she forgave him or not, "but I cannot help but wonder what might have brought you here, of all places." Where Morganna lives. He chose not to point out that Sven was still in the willows, just in case she didn't realise it, or didn't know how close she was to the Ridge. Where her loyalty really lay was still an utterly opaque mystery.

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

She felt almost completely safe in his presence. No longer out in the wild. No no, she was safe within borders she had just crossed in a pack she had just joined. The world seemed far too forgiving right now. Was this being reborn? Was her Heavenly Father scrubbing her clean of a filthy past? She may never know but that was okay with her. As long as her faith didn't wane.

He didn't appear to be very talkative but she didn't mind. She had learned from Skoll that sometimes silence was the best option. But when Craw did speak it was in raspy tones. The pale woman wanted to inquire what made him sound as such but that would be terribly rude. She found it best to assume maybe there were more scars than she could see. His question didn't fall upon deaf ears, though. "I don't forgive but it isn't rude for you to ask. You have rights." Her muddy eyes looked up at him and she offered a gentle smile. "I had hunted with Morganna. She actually happened to be the first wolf I ran into. We chatted and she told me about the moving, her children, her new home." Her eyes then proceeded to sweep the land around them. Beautiful. It really was. "The offer was made of five gifts in five days. I thought about it but ultimately, I didn't have anything to lose." She shrugged almost carefree. She had lost Skoll and Sven. Those had been her somethings but now they weren't. Funny how simple things could be lost.

"So really, why shouldn't have I picked to rebuild a life in Whitestone Monadnock with at least one familiar face?" She followed alongside him, making sure to avoid icy or snowy patches. Now would not be a good time for her clumsiness to kick in.

# C W T

She doesn't...? Previous apathy about her forgiveness turned into curiosity as he picked apart that choice of wording, finding something curious about it. It had just been a polite turn of phrase on his part - almost meaningless - and that she had referenced it so openly was interesting. Slowly, the mysterious figure of Piety Santoro began to take some kind of shape in his mind, as a gentle and soft yet freely spoken creature, strangely bold. As though she wasn't afraid.

That made sense. A normal fearful wolf wouldn't have chosen, entirely through her own free will, to live under the rule of the woman who had disfigured her.

You have rights. He didn't bother holding back the snort. Did she think he needed reassurance? Perhaps too bold.

Piety spoke airily of @Morganna, how they had met, and the story matched up with what his mate had told him. Hearing their newcomer's side of things offered a little more insight into her state of mind: first wolf I ran into, didn't have anything to lose, rebuild a life, at least one familiar face... She painted the picture of a wolf adrift, wandering and alone, who had clung to the first wolf she knew, no matter how troublesome their past relationship, because she had no other viable options. Grunting and jerking his snout towards the goat track so that she knew which direction to be heading in, once more he mulled over her response as they walked, making their way up the slope which would take them to the top of the monadnock.

"I think you must be a very forgiving person," he eventually said, in deliberate contradiction of her earlier statement. "I respect your desire to start again. It has been longer than five days since you hunted with her, though... it took some time to come to this decision?"

She heard the snort and simply flicked an ear. Perhaps she would have poked and prodded at his sounds and words had this not been a superior wolf. Piety respected rules and ranks, almost too much.

Her muddy eyes watched where he gestured towards and made sure to follow close by. This wasn't the worst path in the wilderness but it certainly wasn't for the faint of heart. His words caused a sour taste in her mouth, though. A very forgiving person? Maybe hopeful, respectful, understanding but not forgiving. Hocus would frown upon her if she forgave everything and everyone. She composed herself, simply reminding herself that everyone was entitled to their own opinions.

The pale woman allowed her brain to focus upon his question though and she nodded. "I didn't expect to be so tardy, truthfully." An apologetic glance thrown in the large male's direction. "I stumbled upon a few wolves. Found myself upon the mountain top with a rather rude male who spoke with a foreign tongue too. Called himself Reyes." She threw his name out boldly. Why should she hide who she ran into? Except for her own son. That would be a secret she'd save for perhaps only Morganna. "I didn't realize how the winter days ate time." It was true. Last winter she didn't have to worry about straying too far. This year had been different, though. Every little action leading her up to this moment.

# C W T

Her tardiness, as she put it, wasn't exactly a problem; he would have preferred to believe that she had come to Whitestone after serious  consideration over the notion that she had simply jumped into the care of the first wolf she recognised, former enemy or not. He still wasn't entirely convinced that the latter wasn't true. Time would tell whether or not either side had made a mistake.

Did she just say the mountain top? He frowned as he listened, though didn't make eye contact as he continued to take them up the goat track towards the flat plateau of the monadnock. My my, she had wandered all over the place, then, rather than just lurk in the tundra as she deliberated. So just how far had she gone in the time since @Morganna had seen her last? Who else might know that she was here? Was her presence at Whitestone going to be a problem?

Craw had wanted to leave the mess of the Willows behind when he left them, not just find ways to keep its rotten claws stuck in his hide. He couldn't shake the feeling that Piety was going to be trouble, whether she caused it deliberately or not. He didn't much care about her encounter with some loner lurking on the Dire, and the name certainly meant nothing. Considering his concerns about the woman, however, he chose to store the name away anyway, just in case.

"Winter can steal more than just that," he wheezed, the casual manner of the remark masking the fact that he knew very well just how much the unrepentant cold could take from the living. By that point they had reached the top, as the ground leveled out beneath them and the flat area of Whitestone spread out in front, with a hint of the horizon visible beyond the furthest edge. It was sometimes easy to forget the elevation stood at the edge looking in, though, for the monadnock seemed to stretch to the peripheries. At this time of day it was quiet, for most of the pack were out making full use of the warmth of the sun to hunt and scout and scavenge, but he knew that his mate was still within the territory, and likely exactly where he had left her not long ago. He would take their newly claimed prize to see her soon enough.

Glancing back at the view towards the tundra, in the direction of the track they had just climbed, he encouraged Piety to do the same with a gesture of his snout and a smile. "What do you think?"

@Craw sorry for the little wait! @Morganna feel free to jump in whenever ya want

Piety Santoro

He was right. Winter stole whatever it wanted and did not give anything in return. The nastiest of all four seasons. All she could offer was a respectful nod in agreement.

Following his eyes, Piety glanced out to the lands. To think they had scaled up this high. It was a beautiful sight, to say the least. You could see forever, or so it felt. "There are no words to describe such a view." She smiled and her tail waved behind her happily. "You and Morganna picked quite the place." Her head turned to look at Craw and offer a genuine grin. The pale woman felt blessed to witness such beauty. Perhaps that was what winter gave in return. Elegant, breathtaking views at the possible cost of your life. It wasn't an exchange worth making but not everything could be fair. Life was more about seizing opportunities instead of making things fair, though.

"How long have you been in this area?" A simple question that she couldn't remember if Morganna had mentioned in their first reunion. While she wasn't one for small chat it did cover the time till the Archer woman emerged. She understood that Morg had children now, though and certainly they came first.

The great backyard & the cold north pole

# C W T

Whether or not she was just saying what he wanted to hear - for he loved the view and elevation deeply - she would need to genuinely appreciate it to be able to thrive here. The monadnock was an unusual structure and an even less usual choice of territory, but it was glorious and he could not have chosen to settle in a more grand location. Odin and Kara had had impeccable timing. He loved them for that, too. At Piety's soft compliments, he smiled and laughed at how it married so well with his exact thought that it hadn't really been their choice. They could have decided to move on after they were born, or relocate once the puppies were old enough to move, but...

He let his gaze linger on that horizon, lips curling in pride and satisfaction, and knew that they wouldn't have left this place for anything.

The woman's question brought him back to their conversation, and he glanced at her before gesturing with his snout for her to follow, so that they might continue to seek out @Morganna while they talked. "Since late spring," he wheezed, paws moving comfortably over ground which he knew impeccably well. "We were travelling north when Kara and Odin were born, here, and we chose to stay. Our children." The clarification came almost unbidden, for it was unusual for Craw to declare it so blatantly, leaving their parentage unspoken but assumed, but times changed. Whether or not his blood ran in their veins did not matter one bit; they were his. He opened his mouth to mention Sven, but made a choice to close it again, for the woman and her temperament and her boundaries were still too unknown to test. Had he met her as a loner, he would not have held his tongue. But she was of Whitestone now, and he felt less need to probe coldly at her vulnerabilities because of it. It would be a conversation to have before long, however.

But that didn't mean everything was off-limits. "You used to live in the forests to the south of here yourself, did you not? In the willows? Have you ever come to this part of the Lore before?"