RE: Territory Battle

The white female got to her feet before gently lifting the female pup in her mouth and moving over to where Angier was, lightly bumping her shoulder against his and nodding towards the face of the mountain. She didn't want to say anything with the pup in her mouth - nor did she want to stay here. If that cougar was still alive.. it might be coming back to try and reclaim its home again. Vlarindara turned and glanced back with Arlette held gently in her jaws to see if Angier would follow with her brother.

Traveling with the puppies at night would be just as dangerous as staying on the mountain - if not more so.. but neither of them had the means to care for the little ones.. and they had to get to a pack with a nursing wolf as soon as possible. She knew the trip from the mountain to Grizzly Hollow could be done overnight..if they didn't stop for much rest... Though she intended to call for the two alphas of the pack as soon as they reached the edges of Cedarwood. A howl could travel farther at night - and it was best to..forewarn them of their arrival.

Vlarindara made her way to the edge of the mountain before nodding towards it and taking a step back. She didn't know the way up, let alone down with such a precious bundle in her protection. So instead, she hoped Angier would take the lead and show her the pathway down the mountain so she wouldn't slip and fall like she had on the way up. Once they got to the bottom and away from the immediate danger of the cougar coming back - she knew of a place they could stop momentarily and set the pups down to discuss what they would be doing next. Be it finding a place to stop for the night to give the pups much needed sleep..or press on. She worried about their health without food for that long...She worried for Alex.. and Skylah.. it was..hard for the female to come to terms with what had happened - but they had to do something about the puppies first.. The rest could come later.

<blockquote>His question was answered with a gentle nudge to his shoulder and a nod. Glancing down to the young boy, he sighed. He supposed it was better that they put as much distance between them and the mountain. Taking the ashen pup by his scruff, Angier began to pad over to the crooked tree that marked the path that led down from the Plateau.

Step by step, he carried the mewling boy down the mountain side. <i>Shhh, shhh, shhhhh...</i> he kept hushing in his head. <i>It's alright... Shh.</i> Every now and then he slowly glanced over his shoulder to make sure Vlarindara and the little girl in her jowls were alright. He did his best to choose sure-footed surfaces, places where gravel and stones had been swept to the brink of their ledges if not already tossed over the edge to the forest floor below.

By the time his large paws had found their way into the dry soil of the Wildwood, the pup he held had fallen silent. Perhaps he had been uncomfortable... sensed that Angier was carrying him down from the terribly high perch that had been his pack's - his family's - home. Pressing his eyes against the darkness of the forest, he took a deep breath. He looked over to his side before turning fully around, awaiting for the white lady to catch up. Perhaps she would do the honors of leading now, since he had carefully taken them back down onto even ground.</blockquote>

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The path down the mountain took all of her energy and concentration to follow Angier's footsteps exactly. The white she-wolf did her best not to jostle the newborn pup too much as they descended the steep terrain, but she also did her best to try not to look where Alexander and the Cougar had fallen - with the smaller female chasing after. Once her paws touched solid ground, Vlarindara heaved a sigh of relief - glad to be OFF the mountain.. While she hadn't realized it.. she did NOT like going headfirst down the entire rockface in the dark. The muscles in her shoulders, back and hips were taught and strained on edge with the stress she was under not to harm the little one.

Just as quietly as she had when she had approached the Lyall brother, she nodded towards the darkness and started off away from the mountain. Vlarindara wanted to put SOME distance between them and the rock face in the event of the cougar deciding to come down and check what was for lunch.. She was careful as she moved, constantly glancing around and stopping if something untoward caught her eye. Silently thankful that the female pup in her jaws had fallen just as quiet as her brother, she was able to concentrate more on their path and destination than on trying to ensure nothing heard them.

It was the soft, hungry whines of the female that brought her to a halt less than an hour later, amber eyes casting about to find some place secluded that they could tuck the pups. Her tail shifted just slightly as she set the puppy down at her feet and glanced to Angier, waiting to see if he'd come watch the two pups while she inspected a shadowed area at the base of an overturned log. The pup immediately began to caterwaul the moment her paws touched the hardened dirt, and Vlarindara lowered her head to give a gentle reassuring stroke to the females small body.. which unfortunately didn't stop her cries of hunger. Without knowing when Amielle had abandoned them.. she couldn't tell how long they had gone without food.

"Angier...I don't..know how much longer they're going to last without something to eat. The closest pack is Swift River - but I don't know if they've had pups this year or not.. I know Grizzly Hollow did...but.." But she wasn't sure that the poor infants would make the trip. She sighed and looked down to the whimpering ball of fur between her front legs before dropping down on the ground again and tucking the female up against her warm belly. She could at least offer them warmth..if not a meal. The questing touch of the girls nose made her stomach shiver - the cold digit soaking through her fur.. Odd..certainly. "What.. do you think we should do?"

<blockquote>Angier dared to set his eyes along the edges of the mountain, to make certain that he would not find Alexander's lifeless body among the scattered rocks and angled tree trunks. When Vlarindara pushed forward, he followed after her, staying exactly one step behind. He didn't see anything or hear anything... Perhaps the trio had fallen elsewhere or he had subconsciously taken a path that led <i>away</i> from where they could have fallen. The latter, actually, sounded just about right.

His ears still folded and his tail limply hanging behind him, bumping into his hind legs as he walked, he let out a short whine in response to the small girl's hungry cry. Vlarindara stopped. He came to a halt before her as she set the smaller of the two siblings down. He had heard something stir nearby; she had probably seen it. Angier set the boy down beside his sister, crouching slightly as he eyed the spaces between the trees. Vlar noted that the puppies were probably starving by now, the thought made his stomach churn. Amelie couldn't have been gone for more than a few hours, but the timeframe was just long enough for her orphaned children to become starved. His tail gave an uneasy twitch as he thought. It had taken him at least a day and a half, maybe even two at the most, to reach the mountain from where he had been observing the borders of the Grizzly Hollow pack's territory. It was undoubtedly given that the newborns would not survive the journey without sustenance.

<b>"We could try for Swift River, first,"</b> he suggested. <b>"B-But..."</b> he bit his lower lip and shook his head, pausing briefly. <b>"Well, actually, maybe not. I'm not sure the leader there would take them. When I met him the other day, he seemed rather unimpressed with Alexander sending me out as a messenger."</b>

Another lengthy pause.

His brows drew together in agonizing concern. <i>C'mon, Angier... THINK. Think, think, think.</i> He stood up as he eyed Vlar sadly, taking in the injury across her face... the state of her coat. <b>"Do you think your pack would take them in if it doesn't work out with the River wolves? It's... It could be their only hope. I mean... What <i>else</i> could we do?"</b></blockquote>

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The white female sighed, looking out to the forests around them - the direction of where she knew the Swift River pack resided. It was true that their best hope was to go to the closer pack.. but if they were refused - the trip to Grizzly Hollow would be even longer. "I think that they- OH MY STARS!!!" She practically screeched in surprise and half terror as she literallly jumped off her feet and almost out of her pelt. Vlarindara was about six inches off the ground before she did an awkward twist so as not to land on or crush the small pup...landing on her feet and standing as if she'd been zapped by something.

Her tail had frizzed out (much like a cats might when startled) and was sticking straight out over her hind end, both ears having shot forwards and her fur along her spine raised with the complete...utter shock she had just gotten. For a half second, Vlarindara stood frozen where she managed to straddle the pup before its hungry cries made her whip her head down to peer between her front legs...not at the pup but at her own pelt. There was an awkward pause before she began turning in a circle almost like she was attempting to catch her own tail, but in reality seemed to be trying to inspect something on her person at a closer distance. This of course led to a slightly comical scene of tag.. but a very careful one as each time she placed a paw, it was very diligently NOT placed on the pup beneath her.

<blockquote>The Lyall hadn't noticed that the boy had scooted away from Vlarindara, and as he waited for her thoughts, her answer or decision, he kept quiet. She began to speak but was quickly stopped short... by shock. <b>"What?! What?!"</b> he practically shouted out loud, his eyes staring at her panicked figure as she teetered and turned about. <b>"What's wrong?"</b> he pressed, beginning to fret. <b>"What is it?"</b>

The young Dieudonné at Angier's feet caught his attention as his small head nuzzled against one of the male's massive clawed paws. Angier looked from the pup at his feet to the girl underneath Vlar... then up to the ivory woman, still at a loss for words. His jaw hung open and his back was starting to arch in fear. <i>Had he missed something?</i>

<b>"M-m-maybe we sh-should g-go..."</b> he stuttered as both puppies began to cry. Maybe their <span class='word'>sojourn</span> here was up.</blockquote>

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"I...I think... we can.. make the trip to Grizzly Hollow.." The white female sounded shocked... appalled.. but oddly content with something. After she finished her..odd inspection of whatever it had been to startle her, she once more returned to lying on the ground, nudging the white female towards her stomach. Having shifted about with her circling, she had gotten close enough to Angier that she could reach out and lift the other pup from between his legs and settle him near his sister.

A few moments of her lowering her nose to nudge them about and get them situated were done in silence.. that is until a rather faint sucking sound was heard from the vicinity of the two suddenly silent pups. "I hadn't meant to startle you.. though it startled me nearly out of my skin.." She was still puzzled about.. just why she came to have such a thing for the newborns without pups of her own...Perhaps she'd never know - even though it could have been a direct correlation with her need to assist her pack alphas - and knowing that Jaysyek may need a nursing wolf to sit the pups..All of this was subconsciously thought out - as Vlarindara was still puzzling over such a thing.

"Let's...give them some time to eat...then we'll keep moving towards Swift River?" OF all the packs, she knew Grizzly Hollow the best - and wished to speak to them first.. but, now that she knew *WHAT* the uncomfortable pressure in her abdomen had been...and that easing it was also the answer to their hungry charges.. they could afford to go to Swift River first, then visit with Grizzly Hollow, instead of making a direct shot to her old pack. The white wolf shifted and tucked her hind leg up to help shield the hungry pups from whatever might try to bother them as she looked at them in something akin to wonder. Scary...but interesting how things tended to fall into place...

<blockquote>The tawny male could only nod. <b>"Oh... Okay,"</b> he said slowly. <b>"And... i-it's alright. No harm done really."</b> He managed to take a deep breath as Vlarindara drew the small boy to her side, settling him beside his sister. Everything became silent and Angier's ears swiveled forward.

He had somewhat jumped up from his crouching stance and only now did he fully settle down onto his hind legs. The white wolf suggested that they wait until the pups had had their fill before moving on to seek the Swift River wolves' aid. Angier simply nodded again. She shifted and as her gaze craned downward to see the two silvery bodies nestle against her, his eyes went to the forest around them. While she kept an eye on Alexander's children, he would make sure they, as well as Vlarindara, were kept safe...</blockquote>

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Vlarindara gave the pups enough time to eat their fill - waiting until they had turned away and begun doing their own thing. Knowing then that they were done, the white female lowered her head and gently lifted Theo into her jaws, carrying him with a gentle mouth as she looked to Angier. They could afford now to visit Swift River before taking the pups to Grizzly Hollow. She just hoped that they weren't too far from the territory of the Swift River wolves.

Silently, she sent a prayer to whatever gods might be watching over them that the two young puppies made it through their ordeal. She was tempted to just take them straight to Grizzly Hollow - but if Swift River was going to .. they would be settled into a home faster than they might if she took them straight to Grizzly Hollw. To the white female, that knowledge alone was enough to make her try - The idea that they might find a home sooner.