Drooping Willows Head in the clouds

Avella is outside Willow Ridge Territory

Her large paws had made her more clumsy the larger she got. Often she would find herself tripping over them. Avella would just pick herself up and keep going in her determination to get wherever she was going. That wasn't the only change taking place in the young Archer, her tawny puppy coat had faded slightly, she hadn't taken notice though.

What hadn't changed was her sense of adventure. It was the reason she was out away from the den that morning. The small Archer wasn't sure how she'd managed to get away from the adults since they always seemed to he around. She'd made it further than she ever had before. Her nose found it first, the pungent scent that lay just in front of her. Avella didn't know what it was so stopped but only for a moment to investigate. When she finished she then moved passed it into the expanse of Drooping willows. Once across the border she didn't waste any time, she bound away in search of new explorations.

He could not put his panic into words, could not even think to call the pack as a whole when he realized no one knew where his daughter was. Scully was always at her side and yet when asked, the boy had only been able to shrug his shoulders and offer a confused Idunno, and that was all Sven had needed to hear before taking off. The man had been lucky to have set off in the right direction, to catch her scent, to find her before someone, or something else did.

"Avella!" he shouted, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice as he called out to her. He didn't want to startle her into hiding. She was near, he could smell her, but now they were outside of the Ridge's protection.

"Avella, where are you?!"

(This post was last modified: Jul 20, 2018, 02:23 PM by Sven.)

A sudden cry had broke the peace of the man's patrol, breaking the monotony of the usual 'run of the mill' affair that the freshly anointed guardian had been undertaking ever since his acceptance. The dark male haven't been far when the words of epochal significance had reached his ears, announcing that the day had come for a thing that the man was so worried about to come and become a reality. Thus the man jolted forward with a fresh vigor towards the caller, to come upon the white male from his right-paw-side - making it obvious to the alpha that the man had been playing his usual sheniganians with the coyote folk as everyday. Sven would be of course entirely justified to rebuke him for doing it alone, yet the man had a gut feeling that this wouldn't be a first nor the last course of action that the lead male would take up today.

Blackmoore come to an silent halt as soon as his green eyes were able to positively lock on and identify the white furred male amidst the grass and shrubberies of the dropping willows. No words were needed, as the male tilted his head slightly before taking his nose to the ground to check the smells for any new marks since he'd crossed this part of the forest sometime ago.

For now, the male's nose had failed up to pick up anything new - surely nothing laced with the distinct fragrance of herbs coming from the nursery in which the pups were being kept a lot of times still...

(This post was last modified: Jul 18, 2018, 12:48 PM by Blackmoore.)

The little Archer pup darted around, with so much to see she didn't know where to start first. She'd been missing too much staying near the den all this time. She thought Scully should be with her for this, to see everything she was seeing and she couldn't forget all the smells that she'd found. It was just one of those smells that had her pause in her exploring.

There wasn't anything there to see but the scent was thick on the grass that she sniffed at intensely. Her curiosity about what it belonged to started to churn in her puppy mind.

A call that sounded like her name did finally bring her head up from the strange smell. Her ears laying flat on her head, she knew that voice, it was her father. For a long moment she remained quiet not wanting to reveal her location just yet. Avella knew that she would probably be in trouble, she'd heard what Ravenna had said and she had gone away from the den.

She finally moved in the direction of her father's voice knowing he would probably be worried about her.

Heads up for swearing.

Just as he had suspected all along, Blitz' worst fears had come true. One of the pups; Avella, had caught the case of itchy paws and wandered outside of the territory. Despite his chat with Sven and the precautionary measures they had discussed, the males knew deep down that they could never completely eliminate a risk such as this. Panic set in when her scent did not linger around the den and shot up at the cry of Sven's voice.

He had made only a quick pit stop at the den, to check in and re-hydrate in this warm weather from the stream nearby. Then he would resume his daily patrols. All such thoughts were abandoned as he turned tail, barreling towards the exact location from which the concerned voice of Sven came. "Shit shit shit shit. I knew it...I knew this would fuckin happen." He swore under his breath, muscles taut, hackles raised. As frayed as his nerves were now, he did not blame Avella. She was a growing youngster, with a rapidly developing sense of curiosity. Heck, even he and his own siblings had strayed, when they were her age. In the distance he spied the easily visible white form of his leader, and not surprisingly, Blackmoore who had beat him to the scene as well. Pushing his nose to the ground, he breezed past Sven with ease, veering off to the left, searching frantically. Several minutes in, he paused and opted for a tactic his own parents had used many a time. He raised his head and let out a short, low howl, guiding her closer to the vicinity of he, Blackmoore and her father.

Sven wasn't alone long in his hunt, though it wasn't a surprise that he would attract either man's attention as on the border was often the best place to find them. While Blitz he'd seen and heard, he could sense Blackmoore moving not too far away, and didn't need interaction to know the guardian was helping. He would've caught a glimpse of the tan-marked wolf if he hadn't refused to waste even a moment looking for anything other than his daughter.

When he finally spotted her, tottling his way, Sven rushed to meet her, snuffling all over to make sure she was safe. When he knew absolutely that she wasn't harmed he pushed her toward the Ridge's protection with his muzzle. There were two other able bodied wolves with him to fend off whatever might come upon them now, but that didn't make this safe. They wouldn't be safe until she was back at the den, at this point.

"Ella, where were you going?" he asked in a sharp tone. He wasn't furious by any length, but he certainly wasn't happy. Avella knew better, and she needed to know that this was serious. It wasn't like she'd accidentally bit her brother too hard or was refusing to go to sleep. She easily could have disappeared entirely, he could've found her dead, any number of horrible things.

"What did we tell you about leaving the den site?"

The dark male stayed at the distance, sticking to the proverbial shadows as his ears twisted in response to the new set of sounds coming from behind the leading male. It didn't took him long to realize who had been coming even before his ears could discern the words proper. One could say that the foul language had been quite the hallmark of the other guardian of the ridge. Blackmoore scoffed on that silently, before shifting his attention away from them towards the forest around them. His ears scanned for anything out of place, a sound that would betray a coyote nearby if there was one.

Instead the man had shifted his head back towards Blitz and Sven, as silent rustles erupted from the grass between them. It took a moment for them all to realize that it had been the Avella, however it soon became apparent from Blackmoore's perspective as the alpha had rushed towards the sound with an obvious signs of relief written all over him. Despite the rough words, the male had smiled to himself before shifting his gaze back towards the forest...

Her head and tail were carried low as she walked slowly toward her father. She was in for it now she was sure of it. The tawny puppy wasn't eager to find out if she would be in trouble or not. She also noticed her father wasn't alone, her second father Blitz was there and another wolf she'd seen but didn't really know. They weren't next to her father or anything but they were close enough to hear her get scolded.

She toddled up to where her father was, his pale figure stark against the background of Drooping willows. When she reached him she plopped down on her rump keeping her head down. That didn't last long though as he started pushing her back toward the territory. “Ella want to splore papa,” she said finally looking up into her father's silver eyes. She tried giving him her saddest face hoping it might get her out of trouble. “Ella not supposed to,” she added in response to his second question.

Relief flooded his veins the moment the grass shifted, giving way for the pale form of @Avella, who emerged to answer their voices. Clearly, she wasn't happy to have been discovered, but that was beside the point. Blitz allowed for only a moments pause to allow Sven to rush forward and reunite with his daughter. Once he ushered her back towards the safety of Ridge territory, did he move in to flank her exposed side protectively.

For the time he held his tongue...swears and all for he knew better around a child, and allowed Sven to state his piece. And sure enough, innocent curiosity had gotten the better of her, even if she did know she had done wrong. "We want you to stay close for a reason, Ella." He began in a gentle voice, exposed only when he was around the little ones. His infinite patience for children was exhibited brilliantly here. "It is not safe out there. Something could've happened to you and we might never see you again." Regardless of how many times this speel had been rehearsed before, it had to be and would be repeated again. He was chancing speaking out of line with Sven close by, but as the sire of Ravenna's pups, he was just a much a part of the lives of Sven's children as well. He cared for them all, equally. He lowered his massive head down close to peer gently into her eyes, paired with a tender nudge to her ear. "You wouldn't want that, now would you?"