Nari found herself staring at the side of the mountains that she never really got a chance to gaze upon. The clouds were swallowing up one whole half of the mountain side while the other lay bare reaching out of the earth like an exposed spine. The site could flummox anyone who was not familiar with the terrain, for the mountain almost seemed to reach farther into the sky as it melted into mist. She could almost imagine that the cold stone surrounded by the cloud was a giant castle on a cloud where no one got lost or died. She wondered if her father might be up there right now looking down at her, or perhaps watching over his grandchildren.
Yuka was lagging behind a bit, and Nari had begun to slow their pace for him. He was strong as a bison but the lads stamina was no where near her own. Looking back at him the gray woman made sure that Yuka wasn't too out of breath then turned to look forwards. Earlier in their travels, but a few days after leaving Nina, Nari had them bathe thoroughly and roll in the mud to get the scant scent of Nina's pack off of their coats. Then as the trip continued she made sure to rub up onto Yuka plenty to make it as if they had traveled together for some time. Now that they were closer to the other packs territory she was glad that she had remembered to do these things. Screwing up so early in their mission would have been a curse.
They were in a little clearing now, hence why the wolves had the ability to see the mountains from their position. However the clearing was quickly being swallowed up by pine filled forests. The birds sung short songs while her long legs carried her through the tall timbers. Plenty of fallen logs and dead snags were peppered through the healthy climax forest. It was a very pretty place. Nari favored forests despite having lived in a meadow for quite a few years now. Much like the tight walls of the caves the trees gave her a sense of security, but still she missed the darkness. That enveloping darkness which made complete sense to the she wolf was gone now. Now it was a world of bright colors and shapes that threatened to betray and blind her.
They were deep in the forest when the faint scent of wolf caught her keen nose. The hunter turned towards the direction the scent seemed to come from then trailed it. It smelled of pitch pine sap and earth. The wolf was a healthy female, but not Iopah as Nari remembered her. This was a different wolf, but the smell of Iopah was there on top. So Nari knew that they were on the right track. The pack was somewhere around this green territory. Once they came upon the borders Nari slowed to a stop and gazed out over the landscape. There were a few female scents around, and two distinctly male. One, Koda, she recognized instantly. Having served under the creamy gray male as a subordinate once in the past Nari would never forget his stench. Koda had been proud and noble back then, but now he was just as bad as the scum who betrayed her own pack. Still, she would have to respect him once again. Something that Nari was unsure would actually happen. The smells of pups also graced her nose, and since they were well integrated into the pack she could not tell the difference between Iopah's kin and the other she wolves. Instead Nari was quite surprised by the number of them. Iopah's pack must have been doing well for her to have four children all in one year. The silver wolf hoped that the number of pups meant that this territory had good hunting grounds. She would love to chase the deer through these tall pines.
Iopah's scent was the foremost one upon the border. Nari couldn't believe that the wolf who had been so depressed and lonely back in southern eden had become such a problematic wolf. It was hard for her to believe that she was an alpha too. Iopah had also made it onto Nari's shit list, despite their friendly history. Hopefully though she could be nice for long enough to actually get into the pack. It would be a long process Nari knew, but eventually she hoped to prove herself as a worthy member of Iopah and Koda's pack. She hoped that they would see the potential in Yuka as well. They were both still strong despite their hardships. Both would make good guardians should the pack need them. Nari would make a good scout or hunter as well. At this point she was well versed in most roles spare for healing and maybe teaching. She hoped that if she were accepted, that she could be a hunter, but truthfully Nari would be fine with being whatever the pack needed her to be, and excelling at it.
Nari lifted her head and let out a long sad howl. It was one of longing and despair. She could not fake the feelings of loss for losing her own home, and Nari hoped to use that here during the soon to be meeting. She called for Iopah and Koda by name letting her lost sounding call echo out across the landscape and through the pines. Then it ended, and her head lowered once more. She let her crown dip below her chest even, and pushed her tail downwards to rest at her hocks. Her silver fur lay beautifully over her tall lean frame. It was odd pushing herself so low once again. She had done it once to ask Nina to take her children in, but after that the woman seemed fine respecting each other at their own neutral stances. No need to submit ever arouse. Nari was sure that it would be different here though. Iopah had no idea of whether she could really trust Nari, so she would have to prove herself doubly. The pale womans eyes trailed along the tree to their right looking over the drill holes of some hungry woodpecker. She trusted that Yuka knew what to do by now. They had gone over their plan often enough for even a dumb pup to understand everything.