Red Fern Forest Reach the other side of the world.

@Nova @Iopah (I know its not the falls, but its close nuff. :P )

"Keep your face to the sunshine, and you will not see the shadows."

Dare had stayed in the rusting sands, wandering through the hills. The man he had spoken with had since parted from him. Dare did not like the hills. They seemed to bring back memories he had started to forget. His mind started seeing red on the stones and sands. Shaking the memory from his mind, and taking a moment to breathe, was harder for him than normal here. This was not the land he remembered.

He crested over the final hill, and saw the outline of a mountain. The white peaks of Dire seemed as tall as he was on the hill, across a swirling sea of green. The air felt cool as it drifted from a forest just past the edges of the orange stones and sand. He had a thought to go south, willing to just forget about returning to a pack life. Yet he stalled, thinking. The man had told him about the other packs. Only a few days away, he had said. Dare sighed, finally choosing to head north. Maybe it would be colder there, he had grown sick of the heat of deserts...

Dare awed at the red ferns that carpeted the forest floor. They seemed to blanket the underbrush in their strong hues of red. The forest felt deep. The deep reds, browns, and greens made the place feel wholesome and firm. He leaned down and sniffed at the fern, biting into the frangible stems out of curiosity.

As Dare ventured further into the wood, he became more alert, his eye scanning across his field of vision. He felt on edge, knowing that any wise pack would have some sort of scout or watcher by now. This meant to Dare that he had been seen not too long ago, and was not approached. He knew they could be watching him. This was their lands he was entering. He cold even start to get faint scents of their claims as he still walked forward. They would know the area, Dare thought. He knew soon, they would find him. Dare made no motion to hide himself, instead calling out occasionally. A part of him wanted to get this over with, so he could start heading south, or maybe to those mountains that seemed to capture him in its gaze.

hope this pp is ok with @Nova (I'm fine with assuming a discussion of this scouting expedition took place beforehand), also being very vague in reference to Camio's and Narime/Yuka's visit.

Frost was thick on the ferns and all the small animals were tucked away, ready for what everybody knew was coming. Iopah eyed all the places they might be hiding -holes and burrows filled with tasty, slumbering morsels. The Red Fern Forest stretched out for miles, trembling and swaying in a slight breeze. The vibrant reds of summer were muted somewhat. Now the forest looked more like it did when the small pack had first come to the area, but the color was still there: tucked into the underbrush and in every shift of movement.

Iopah turned away from the inspection; all those tiny critters could wait and it wasn't as if they were going anywhere anyways. Golden eyes scanned over the frost-damaged ferns and she drew in a deep breath of chilled air. Her breath plumed white as she called out casually for another Pines wolf.

The wolves would have to work harder over the winter, the prey was scarcer and the footing was more treacherous over ice and snow. Iopah hoped to hunt in this forest -since the Bend pack seemed to have little interest with doing so- if there was any proof that the deer came here to take shelter from the weather. She moved forward, looking for signs of prey. Anything would do: tracks or flattened areas where they spent the night, even droppings would be enough that deer would be here over the winter.

"Keep your face to the sunshine, and you will not see the shadows."

Dare ventured further, a part of him wondering if he maybe had been lied to. Seemed like such a petty thing to lie over, but none the less, it feel ...  Hollow. Dare made note of the crisp air, and the firmness of the ground under his foot. He walked along, sometimes pausing to savor moisture from a fern leaf. The simple silence of the place, and the soft white haze over the crimson ferns, made Dare feel like he was finally in another world. Dare found it odd, that being from cast deserts of nothing and from planes of grass and snow, that this wood still left empty to him. He honestly did not like the feeling. The feeling always seemed to crop up when he least wanted it. 

It was reasonable to say that when Iopah had called out to the other pine wolves it caused him to jump. The call echoed slightly in Dare's head a moment, as the silence lingered at the edges of the space. Dare lifted himself and started making his way to the source of the sound. The soft thump of the pads as he jogged had an uneven rhythm. His strides grew longer as he squinted over at the figure just barely visible through the trees. He arched to the side, coming up onto a small jutting log so that she could see him. His face turns so that his one good eye is the only eye visible, as he scans her and the area, alert. He gives a Tenor bark to further show his presence, giving her a nod of his head. 

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

I'm not sure if @Nova is still going to appear, but I don't want this thread to go dead while we wait.

Well, her summons had attracted attention, but from the wrong direction. Iopah swiveled, raising herself high to peer through the ferns. The wind was wrong - blowing towards Dare and making it impossible gain any information about the approaching wolf. Her hackles lifted ever so slightly, already wary and thinking her past run-in with Kjors. If the one-eyed dragon thought of going a second round with the Pines queen, he'd better start reconsidering.

The audible approach separated out into individual footfalls and she was swift to go in search of them. Iopah pushed roughly through the ferns; wanting them to know she was coming. It was her first warning to them, in case they got the idea to try anything with her. She was not a woman to be messed with. When Dare came into sight, she stopped in her path and boldly stared up at him. He was turned the wrong way and she could not see the missing eye, but it was oblivious this was not Kjors.

Iopah was comfortable in the area, perhaps brazenly so. As Dare cautiously surveyed the area, she reclined to a sit. Her gray-tipped tail curled around her forepaws, hiding how readily she could rise to them if needed. The acknowledgement was appreciated; her own ears flicked back in greeting and voice called out evenly to address him, "Are you new to the area? Can I help you with something?"