Grizzly Hollow not in my castle on a cloud

@Nineva - <3

Katariina had found a way to keep herself busy, the Finnish brood making her times worth it as she both scouted out lands while trying to figure out different tactics to approaching other packs, ideas to present to Rook and Quil. There was a burning desire in her to prove herself to the best of her ability, though it did not hold a death grip over her as she found herself finding time to stand back and let go of childish worries about not being good enough. She had long since learned that it was not a good idea to hold onto such things, because they would eat away at her. She hummed a story to herself, a familiar Finnish tale about a wolf who could control the far north, and how she could take over a wolves mind.

It was an interesting tale about innocence, though she had never looked far enough into it in order to see anything of the sorts. She had a grin to her as she bounced around, her tawny tail wagging from side to side in a familiar manner. She had caught new scents – one new scent in particular that had caught her interest and one vaguely familiar one. Kenelm and a puppy. It made her curious if the man had found his sister, which he must have if he found a pack. She was delighted to know he had taken her up on the offer to join, and even brought new blood with him in the process.

Kat wanted to get to know everyone, as was her instinct and her general nature as a human. She was actively seeking out the child by scent to talk to her and find out more about her. Was this child Calanthe and Kenelm had simply left out the fact that she was a pup or someone else? Perhaps the child of his sister? Either way, Kat would get to the answers.

Nineva lay resting beneath a tree, for once at a stand still with her day. She had been out late the night before, wrapped up in her explorations, and thus wound up not getting enough sleep. Thus as she attempted to trudge on with her day, she had finally succumbed to heavy eyes and groggy mind, and curled up within the roots of a particularly old cedar tree. Now she slumbered peacefully, having promised herself just a few moments to nap. It had been perhaps half an hour, and if left alone, should most likely be out for another hour or two.

Within her dreams she saw her family, back at the Caverns where they belonged. She saw @Rose and @Korrin, they were her size now too, playing in the stream and splashing one another, while @Ash and @Narimé sat by, side-by-side, happily watching the children's play. Somewhere, she knew, Yuka was lurking within the shadows. Nineva watched them from the tree line, tail wagging as she knew they would be happy to see her. How long had it been? She couldn't even fathom the time. She lifted her voice in the form of a jubilant bark, and all four of them looked up in surprise, three splashes of red and a stroke of gray. Another bark escaped her before she rushed forward, wagging so madly her whole body wriggled. She thought herself to be met with hugs and kisses, joyous exclamations, gratitude for her return. Yet their eyes were cold, scornful even, and her steps began to slow as confusion chased away her mirth. Were they... angry with her?

Her mother's voice lifted to answer this unspoken question for her. "Nineva," she scolded, "What did you do? Your father looked everywhere for you, you traumatized your siblings."

"But... I..." the girl was at an utter loss for words. This wasn't what she expected. This was what she feared.

"Traitors aren't welcomed back. Remember that?" her mother hissed, and a wretched whine escaped Narime's daughter as despair suddenly overwhelmed her. No! her mind screamed. I'm not a traitor! This was different! Yet her parents turned from her, as though she no longer existed, and her siblings continued their play, and the world began to move on without her, and she began to scream.

"You left first!" she shrieked, but they would not listen. "You left me!"

In reality, under the shadow of the cedar tree, Nineva lay peacefully no longer. Her limbs twitched and her brow furrowed as small whines leaked from her throat.

The valiant search would continue, though part of her did consider to seek out Kenelm and question him herself about the matter, knowing she had found a friend in him despite the fact that she had yet to find any hints on his sister, assuming he had not found her already. That would be his next scene, to find out if he had accomplished his goal or if something had drastically changed, like the child she was looking for.

It hadn’t honestly taken all that long to find the child’s scent and trace it around the territory, eyes focusing on her as she noted the distressed signals being sent, concern flaring in the woman’s heart as she heard the whines through the trees, instincts causing her to run towards the scene, carefully alert for anything that might have hurt the child. There was no scent of blood or any signs of harm, causing her to carefully nudge the girl, noting she was sleeping as Katariina started to place two and two together… a nightmare, it had to have been, or at the very least an uncomfortable dream. She remembered her own far too often.

There was a soft hum as she nudged, backing up afterwards to give the child space as her humming continued into a sweet melody that had always managed to sooth her, hoping it would have a similar affect with the child before her. "It's alright... it's alright."She half said aloud, half whispered to herself.

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Katariina's touch reached through the nightmare to pull Nineva back to what was solid and real. Consciousness came to her slowly, but the moment the other woman had reached forward the dream had dissipated completely. Nineva's eyes fluttered up slowly, soothed awake by the calming notes that hummed from her packmates chest. To have been awoken in such a way, she immediately felt secure once more, even if she did not recognize the scent of the one with her. Her paw reached out, seeking something to curl around and pull closer, but Katariina was just out of reach. When at last she had fully come to, her mismatched eyes settled upon the woman's kind face, and she at last was coherent enough to wonder why she was here, staring at her and singing. Had she been acting out her dream aloud? Her cheeks burned with embarrassment at the possibility.

"Um, hi..." she greeted, displaying a shyness that was not characteristic of her. She gathered her limbs to her, folding them under her as her tail came to curl around her. "Who... who are you?"

Her scent wasn't entirely foreign, having been picked up here and there over the territory before along with those of the other pack mates she'd yet to meet, yet she had never actually seen the woman before.