Secret Woodlands Foes Behind Every Tree

The silver wolf slipped through the mixed vegetation relieved for once to have trees surrounding her. They kept her hidden as well as made the she wolf feel confident that she was getting close to Nina's border. The information Narime had to give was important to her, but honestly she wasn't sure how Nina or the male lead would take it. Will they understand my anger against Tokino and Minka? Or will they believe I made a fool out of myself for opposing their decision? Nari felt the thought tumble around her head as she padded closer to the woodland wolves borders.

The hunter could smell many wolf scents littering the game trails in the area. She knew she would come upon the border at any moment now. It had been so long since Nari had last visited with Nina, and a catch up visit was necessary. Especially for as long as Danica resided within her territory. Nari would calm Nina if she had fears for her daughters safety. They had plenty of room for her back at Whisper Caverns, although Nari would bring Danica back if Nina asked of it.

Sniffing the wolf scent that began to accumulate into a border, Nari slowed herself until she stood just outside of the border. Keeping her head and tail in neutral positions the silver queen raised her head and called for @Nina. She didn't call for the male lead since she wasn't positively sure who was leading alongside Nina. Perhaps after this meeting Nari would find out.

"It is Narime Lagina of Whisper Caverns pack! Nina I have a message for you!" Lowering her head as her howl finished Nari waited at the border watching the shadows and gazing past the numerous thick trunks of old trees.

Nari! I always wondered if they would meet again.
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Inhaling deeply, her black nose pushed against the ground. A couple thorough sniffs, then she stopped mid-snort, bringing her eyes up to a point several feet ahead. A weasel had been here recently, Iopah had watched it catch a small rabbit earlier. She was looking for the leftovers she knew where stashed nearby. The idea of stealing from this creature didn't bother her in the least, she would have tried for the weasel itself if not for it's nasty bite. That was a lesson she only needed once.

Stepping forward quietly, she pawed at the area. A tatter of rabbit hide was visible and Iopah's swiveled forward in excitement then fell back to listen to the forest. The might still be close by, and Io didn't want to be caught stealing. The act itself presented no moral holdup, but there were those sharp teeth to consider.... She leaned in to snatch it away, ears pinned, halfway expecting a sudden noise and needle-like teeth in her back leg.

A ringing howl came just then, and Iopah cringed for a second before hastily grabbing the rabbit and jumping free. Half of a rabbit swinging from her jaws, she listened to Narime's voice. It was... familiar. Frowning she started towards Narime, trying to dig the memory up. Absently she remembered the rabbit and paused to eat it. It was smeared with dirt, half eaten; an embarrassment to bring to the cache.

It didn't take very long to locate Narime. Iopah crept through the underbrush, to peer out at the wolf. She couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that she knew this wolf. The silvery coat and distinct violet eyes were unmistakable. Iopah didn't need to confirm her scent to know this was the wolf from the marsh. She remembered Sloane's mate being mentioned in a distant meeting, but she'd never had an opportunity to match it with the name-less marsh wolf. She paused again, thinking of their conversation. Iopah tried very hard to stay busy and avoid the depression that had overwhelmed her that day. How much did Narime remember, and what would she say?

They were questions that Iopah couldn't answer so she pushed herself to her full height and approached Narime. Despite Iopah's trepidation Narime had been courteous that day, and Iopah was determined to show the same. Her tail flicked comfortably around her hocks and she set gold eyes on Narime's violet, greeting her warmly. "Narime. Nina will be along shortly, I'm sure." Belatedly she added, "I'm Iopah."

Narime was quickly met with by another subordinate of Secret Woodlands pack. At first she didn't recognize the she wolf who strode forward to meet her at the border. Even as Nari studied her coat color and glanced quickly to, then away from her eyes to see what color they were. With a gray, creme, and tan coat the newcomer was quite like many wolves that Nari had met with over the years. The girls gold eyes and mid-sized physique were rather average as well, and were it not for that nagging feeling in the back of Nari's head she might have thought this wolf was completely new to her.

That was until the she wolf regarded her, rather warmly might I add, by name and with a smile. Nari racked her brain hard trying to remember who it was as she dipped her head in greeting. At least until Iopah gave her name. Then the silver wolf's memory came back to her. She had met Iopah quite a long time ago, and if she remembered correctly Iopah hadn't been all that happy about her life back then. Now she seemed to have confidence in herself and looked like she loved life.

"Wow, it's been such a long time Iopah...Taken anymore long baths recently?" She commented referring to when Iopah had been mostly submerged in the water of the marsh upon their first meeting. "I never knew you joined up with Nina, I'm so happy to see you are doing well." Nari sat on her haunches clearly comfortable near the Barberi wolf as they waited for Nina and passed the time by chatting.

She had been den bound ever since her children had been born. She loved watching her little ones, and had been keeping a special eye on Silentium...there always seemed to be something off about her boy and she worried that it would have to do with something medical. The Hervok woman didn't want anything to happen to her children, at least not while she had anything to do with it. Nina did not want to have another incident like Tacoma, which had been the most heartbreaking day of her life. It had never occurred to her, that she would be getting visits from old friends, especially not at times like these, when she had just delivered her second litter. So when she received a call from Narimé, Nina moved from her children and looked for @Mirren, ready to ask him to watch her children while she took her leave.

Once the pup's situation was taken care of, the mother took no time to make her way towards her borders. She hoped that one of her trusted subordinates had already made it there to greet their long time alliance. When she arrived, she was highly pleased to see her Lead Huntress already on the case, and Nina easily took over, lifting herself high and correcting her posture before pushing forward powerfully, her single-eyed gaze turning towards Iopah for a moment to signal for her to step back so that she could handle business before they could go onto other pleasantries. Nodding her head towards the gray woman, she spoke kindly, ”Lady Thorben...how nice to see you again. What is it that brings you to my lands?” Secretly, Nina hoped that it was news...news of Sloane and how he had returned to the lore...but if that had been so, wouldn't he have come himself...wouldn't he have returned to his best friend to tell her of why he had left? Positive thoughts tried to war over in the mother's mind as she anxiously awaited Nari's answer.

Yes, Narime remembered her. Though there was a few moments where she couldn't be sure. The glances thrown her way were too quick and furtive. The nod conveyed only polite acknowledgement. Maybe Narime simply assumed Iopah was a gregarious wolf? Iopah as a friendly and outgoing wolf. Now that would have been a good bit of irony. Her lips twitched into a grin, amused at the thought.

It took her name for everything to connect and Iopah blinked as realization came over Narime. She hadn't remembered giving her name back then, and she certainly didn't remember Narime's name. Everything had only just come together for Iopah a few minutes ago. It was a slight technicality, made worse by Iopah's perplexity. Had she really been so depressed that she couldn't remember what had been said? Narime addressed her and Iopah swung her ears forward sharply to hear, the still-lingering grin softening the rapid movement. The question was lighthearted, but it needled. Iopah considered her depression a handicap and went to great lengths to keep it at bay. She forced her earlier grin to stay on her features, but she could feel it dying in her eyes.

She couldn't bring herself to answer. Her reply wanted to be sarcastic, but Iopah did not do sarcasm very well. Thankfully Narime overlooked her hesitation and continued. Iopah eased out a breath she hadn't realized had been building up. The creme and gray wolf settled herself into a sit, looking away shyly at the comment. There was a time when joining a pack had been the last thing she wanted and she had been intensely relieved to discover she was still capable of trust.

"And I didn't realize we had so much in common." All along she had been connected to the unnamed marsh girl. First through Sloane and then through her friendship with Nina. She fell into a comfortable silence. She'd never been good at idle chat. Even as a child, she never knew what to say. Movement caught her eye and she turned, most of the thicket wolves were now adept at moving silently through their home. She rose to her feet eagerly at Nina's approach, ducking her head at Nina's brief, solid glance. Of course she would yield to Nina. Her nose pressed against Nina's side in an affectionate manner before she pulled back. She was pleased to be included in this and she resettled herself, holding herself low in respect to the two leaders.

Nari nodded at Iopah's final comment before scenting Nina just as she appeared out of the forest like some red furred ghoul. Even Nari's hunting senses hadn't noticed the female lead until just before she had appeared. Narime was impressed and wondered how the Woodlands wolves could travel so silently within the forest.

She dipped her head respectively greeting Nina as the gray she wolf turned her body towards the red coated lead. There was a hell of a lot that Nari had to get out and talk to Nina about, but first and foremost was the information on her daughter.

"The most important news I may bring you is that your daughter Danica Reinier found her way to my borders and is now living with us. She's doing well with chores and minor duties and has seemed to made good friends with my son. However if you want me to send her back here then I can find one of my subordinates to bring her safely back if you want." Nari paused thinking of her pack mates and who might be willing to take such a trip. "Actually Ash would probably like to keep her safe while bringing her here himself. He seems fond of the girl." Nari smiled glad to remember that Ash did seem to have a warmer side.

She waited to see what Nina's reply would be while letting her tail flick side to side conveying her relaxed state. Then once Nina had answered she let out a sigh. "There is also a lot of other older news I need to catch you up on." Nari spoke softly as her eyes drifted to the woods beyond. Memories of her past winter plagued the she wolf while she sat there her tail now unmoving on the earth.

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

She was extremely pleased to see that Iopah did not resist her polite command, and nodded briefly at her subordinate before turning her attention to her best friend's mate, her single emerald eye watching her carefully. She listened intently and sighed in relief at the news of her only daughter and it pleased her even more to know that her brother was alive and well. She parted her lips to speak and her words came out softly, ”As long as my daughter is happy, then she can remain wherever she wishes to...and thank you for the news of my brother. It is good to know that he is healthy and well.” After they got that out of the way, there seemed to be something much more pressing that Narimé would have to discuss with her. Knowing that it might be important for her to know and her subordinates to know later, the golden brown woman looked over at Iopah and excused the two alphas from the borders, and the Hervok easily seemed over her borders, and walked to a much more private spoke with Nari.

When they both got to the meadows where they could settle down without the probability of getting stuck by thorns, Nina sat down and promptly invited the other woman to do the same. Before they continued, Nina spoke softly, ”I hope you don't expect my brother to be at the bottom for long... He was born into a family of those who have lead...and he was the alpha of Poison Path for quite awhile...so my apologizes in advance for any upheaval he may cause when it comes to rank.” She watched the other gray woman carefully, a cautious glint in her single eye, before she spoke again, wanting to make a good name for her brother, ”Don't let him deceive you though. He has a large heart...but only to those who work hard for it.” She then remained silent, nodding her head towards Nari to tell her of the pressing news that seemed to be bothering her.

Iopah sat and watched, her gold eyes casting back and forth at each remark. Ordinarily shop talk did not interest her. Either the pack in question was so far away to render any information about them irrelevant. Or if they lived closer, close enough to come into contact with them Iopah instinctively labelled them as competition. Her previous history with Narime lent importance to this conversation. Her head turned back to Narime, waiting for the silver alpha to speak her turn.

At mention of Danica the gold eyes that had been studying the pale hues of Narime's coat flicked up sharply. Catching herself before Narime could return the stare Iopah jerked her gaze to the ground. She had searched for the girl. Knowing her whereabouts was both a blessing and curse. Danica was alive and belonged to pack, however, now there was no question that she wouldn't return. Narime's offer ringing in her ear, Iopah turned her creme skull just far enough to watch Nina from the corner of her eyes. At the clear relief in her voice, Iopah relaxed and openly turned toward her queen. If Nina was satisfied with the arrangement that was all she needed to set her at ease. She returned to her curious back and forth observations of them.

Nina must have sensed something in the younger alphas last exchange, for she glanced at Iopah. The pale and gray woman looked away demurely as they excused themselves. She heard their steps as they left the border and Iopah looked up as they passed out of sight and into the meadows. She sighed, nose wrinkling in boredom. Clearly she wasn't privy to that. Her nose twitched again and she turned, private conversation forgotten. The hunter pressed herself against the ground, letting her light feet carry her closer to the sound of a gangling, awkward deer. She grinned, baring her teeth in anticipation. Good, something worth bringing to the cache finally.
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Iopah exits.

Narime nodded a little surprised that Nina would let go of her children that easily. It made her think of how much she shadowed her own children. Am I the one being too overprotective of them? The question flung across her mind, but then the image of Malia's dead body made Nari shiver. Shaking her head to clear the depressing images Nari did not see Iopah's short stare.

Then all of the sudden Nina excused Nari and herself from Iopah's presence. Apparently she felt that the next information Nari gave might not be for everyone's knowledge. The silver wolf listened as Nina then spoke about Ash. Silently Nari withdrew into herself as she remembered that Nina might not know about Sloane's absence. Nor did she know about Ash currently being alpha in the caverns. Narime put on a fake smile and chuckled.

"Yes I know of his prior leading position. Since a few other ex-members of Poison Path have also joined. I was friendly with a number of those wolves even though there was no real alliance." Nari couldn't help thinking about Treena, Ava, Tlarx, and Chantille. All who had been her "friends" when she was younger. Nowadays Nari, being more cautious than before, only really accepted Chantille as a best friend, and maybe Ava as a minor one. Though she hadn't seen either she wolves for some time. She wasn't even sure if Athena was all that fond of her either. Since she had let Aphrodite go instead of forcing her to stay where she would be safe. The silver wolf was sure Athena was holding some sort of negative energy over that situation.

Nina's next words made Nari's thinking of Ash climb yet another step in her proverbial latter. Even though the male had attacked Nina years ago now, for her to say something like that meant that he very well could have changed. It gave Nari hope that she and Ash could be friends. She need only open herself up to him more instead of being so distrusting of the man.

"Actually when I got back from my mission over the mountains, to ally my pack with another, I came back to find both Ash and Minka leading." Narime spit out the words "to ally my pack with another" in clear anger which would probably lead the onlooker on to assume those negotiations might have gone badly. In truth Nari had gotten to the pack too late to help them. Thus finding out about betrayals that made her teeth want to snap into a certain pair of wolves who had made her winter a living hell. Just because she had originally tried to help them.

Her growl turned to a soft whine as Nari looked quickly to Nina. "So much grief has occurred during the winter...So much..." Her heart ached to see all of the wolves, trusted wolves who had gone missing while she was gone trying to help the pack.