Nightingale Palisade chase down these days

For @Raela only.
Backdated to July 6th. Intermittent rain, afternoon.
Subterritory Discovery! Summer's Pass is by far the easiest route from South to North across the Palisade. It is here that the incline is exceptionally kind, and the river is at its shallowest. Its utility is made obvious by the faint but perceptible trail formed by wolves and other predators. All of this is only true during the Summer months, however. In Winter the pass becomes choked with snow and ice, making it difficult to traverse. During the thaw, it is susceptible to landslides and rapids.

The herds were moving through, and Gent was not keen on missing the opportunity to strike down large game and fill their caches in one swift swoop. The pack was no longer just a venture downhill from the Lowlands, however. While they were still close, there was the rough and largely variant terrains of the Palisade to the North West and the Fjord to the North East. Thus, while he didn't need more than one venture to discern the herd's position, it took several trips to find the perfect path to them. After all, once the hunt was done with, they would have to drag all that meat back.

This time, he had brought his favorite lady along, treasuring the opportunity to spend an afternoon alone with her. Conversation flowed easily between the two as they explored and searched, talking of their packmates and their children, their neighbors and their wonderful home, and everything else that surrounded it. There was work still to do, but it didnt stress him out as it had back at the Crest. Not with Raela to talk all of it over with, and most importantly; not with Aleris and @Ryker and Lucia to continuously prove that even if none of it was resolved, his world would still be whole for having them in it.

It was hours in that they came across it, an ebbing of the puissant river. They'd run into this before, but on this occasion the shift was accompanied by an abation of the terrain's slopes. Gent's ears picked up as their words faded from the air, gait picking up as they approached the pass.

"I think this is our ticket," he grinned, looking over his shoulder to see what Raela thought of it.

(This post was last modified: Jul 15, 2016, 12:57 AM by Gent.)

Not often did she venture away from the children, even rarer was it that she actually left the borders. There was not a complaint in her mind though; it was a privilege to be able to soak up the beginning of their little ones lives; it would never happen again. Just being there was so very important at this stage. They needed so much guidance, so much protection. Leaving them was always hard, and there was not a moment she didn't worry at least a little bit. Being alone with her mate, however, was still a welcome change. What used to be so common was now almost rare. That too, was just fine with her, for they had nothing to hide from their brood; nothing they would keep secret. Still, this was refreshing. It was like it used to be, before the Notch and before the kids. 

Gent was so much lighter than he had been before. Their existence was not stress free, but so much better. Food had not been too difficult to find this summer in their new home, and while the pack was small it had met the challenges presented to it thus far. Times would get harder, she knew, but for now it was a welcome shift away from the death and desertion of the Crest. 

If they were to sustain their pleasant existence, the establishment of a quick route to and from the plains of the north was essential. Big prey roamed in abundance there, and if their group was going to get bigger, they would need more food. The fields and woods to the southwest had sustained them just fine, but it was foolish to pin their livelihood on one or two areas only. Things would change as they always did, and so she was as relieved as the King was when the river and the pass came into view. "Let's hope it goes all the way," she added, drawing up beside him and then continuing forward with a grin. 

            

Gent nodded and set off at a much more brisk pace. If it did indeed pan out, then it was excellent news and he was ready to receive it. After being starved of it all Winter, he would take all of the sunshine he could get from this new home and new start. And indeed, as the pair moved onward the terrain continued its kindness. A single bend had kept the lowlands hidden from view, but as they rounded it the gold-gray stretch muddied the horizon and the dark leviathan had never been more pleased to see it.


They trekked to the very end of it, measuring the time it had taken. As they came to a stop, paws resting on ground that was a mixture of the two distinct topographies, Gent surmised within his head that in utilizing this pass, the pack should be able to kill and carry back large game within a day's span. Quite a stretch for a hunt, but the sizable haul made it worthwhile. There was just one thing that could tip the scales in the other direction, and as his lungs filled with crisp air and all that it carried, his neck prickled with anxiety that it was a possibility.

Others were about, not just one or two but several. It was faint but present all the same, and in particular the blue-black king could pick up the identity of @Drestig not too long passed.

The man had always been one to scout out the outlying areas surrounding his home; that Drestig and who could only be assumed as his mate were hanging around had been noticed before. That they were still here, however, and with more bodies now, gave cause for concern.

"You smell that?" he asked of his wife, pale eyes pulling away from the landscape to rest upon her face. He wanted her thoughts.

Fortunately the route seemed to pan out exactly as they'd hoped. After a long while of following the shallowed river, the vastness of the plains slowly teased into view. Some traveling through the woods later and it was spread out before them; bountiful and breathtaking as it had always been. For a moment as the lead pair lingered, surveying the landscape further, she was reminded of her multiple excursions to these lowlands, back when the Crest was thriving. When she and Cessair had fought those coyotes... and when she had first led a hunt as an Alpha. There was a sickness that followed those memories, a sickness that latched on to the many associated faces that were no longer with them. 

She was pulled from that particular pit of nostalgia by her mate's voice. Raela's sunshine eyes flickered up to find his; her black nose immediately beginning its work before the question and its implications had fully registered in her mind. The air drifted toward them again, filling her mind with the slow realization. Not one, not two, but several scents came to them; overlapping each other and mixing with the fragrance of the fields and the warm air. They were much worthier of attention than those other things, though. 

Looking back to Gent, it was obvious that he was anxious with this revelation. “Drestig” was a wolf she had of course been told about, after her husband's meeting with the older man back towards the Downs' old territory. His scent though was entirely foreign and unknown to her, and it took a moment for her mind to recall his significance in this area. Her partner had sensed him before, and now his perfume was not the only one. The pieces began to fall into place, and Raela turned to stare back.   

"There's a few of them," she replied, guessing that he could tell that already but feeling it relevant anyway. "You think they're staying somewhere nearby?" Her eyes shifted toward the wind as she spoke, as if there would be some visual cue or answer all of a sudden.           

            

Her question inspired him to hum softly in thought. Cautiously, he picked his way forward, traveling the smooth transition from the rocky ground of the palisades to the soft grasses of the lowlands one step at a time. Absolutely he did not feel like adventuring too close to this particular unknown today, but he still was trying to glean as much information as he could from whatever distance they were now.

"Seems like it," he answered after a few beats, nose still working hard to uncover what it could.

"I don't like this, it's a bit close. If we didn't have the palisade between us, it'd be intolerable."

Might still be, depending on a lot of factors that they did not yet know. Gent was determined he would find them out, however, and soon. This was a possible threat not just to his home but his family, and that was simply unacceptable. That it was recognized as Drestig made him all the more wary, as it diminished his hopes that the wolves of this fledgling pack would be reasonable. Hopefully, he wasn't the man in charge, though having been the first and with what Gent was now wondering might've been a mate, that glimmer of hope was unlikely to be true.

The man sighed.

"Well. The isolation was nice while it lasted."

Now they had to jump back into diplomacy, ugh.

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