Grizzly Hollow invisible crisis

@Yvly <3

The hot air billowed out in front of his face with every breath, his sides heaving as his body recovered from the sprint, tongue hanging free in the cool, crisp morning air. Stood still and quiet save for his heavy panting, Tomen stared at the trees ahead, enjoying the feeling of warmth in his legs and joints, how fluid his body was in that moment, how the pounding of his heart could be heard in his ears and felt in his toes.

He'd stopped right where the pack's borders were, some unseen force holding him from crossing back into the territory, some urge keeping him in the neutral zone. For a moment he considered turning around, maybe seeing how quickly he could make it to the Bluffs, how fast he could race to their top. Glancing up, peering at the sky visible through the trees, he tried to determine roughly where the sun was in the sky. Had he been faster than yesterday? The damnable cedarwoods were so thick that he could hardly make it out, shining bright somewhere in the highest point in the sky, and he huffed in private frustration, accepting that he would not know for certain.

Shaking out a forming cramp in his hindleg, Tomen allowed himself a few more moments to simply watch the trees, listen to the forest, to enjoy the sensation of his heartbeat before he had to make any more immediate decisions.

That was quick lol - figured I'd get at least one post in before I go to bed so I don't forget about the thread :P

The Tawny Leader had risen a little later than usual due to the large cloud cover up in the sky, but she was confident as to not being the only one out and about to mark the borders and so shrugged it off. She was allowed a lazy day every now and then. There had not been much action at the pack border for a while so she took it slow, languidly putting one paw in front of the other as she topped up the markers. Every exhale was accompanied by a cloud of grey at the end of her muzzle that slowly diffused into the crisp morning air. The cold no longer bothered her but she knew it could get much colder.

It was the sound of a frustrated huff that caught her attention, tawny ears pricking up as her nose registered the wolfy scent that belonged to Tomen. During all her time in the Hollow she had yet to talk with the younger male and now with the recent events she was even more hesitant to engage in conversation. However, as leader she had to put aside her feelings and do what she logically thought was best: talk to Tomen. It would be nice to know his views on the whole mini-crisis, but at the same time she worried if he would see her position as only temporary - which is what it had initially been. In her mind that grace period was over and she now had no obligation to just return the role to Oula; she wondered if the others thought the same.

"Hey," Yvly woofed out with a smile and wag of her tail, padding closer to the younger male. He looked to be at peace with his surroundings, and she glanced around at the immediate area to give a sense of her being there simply because she felt like it. She did not wish to put him off in any way, nor ruin his mood, but she felt that they needed to talk with one another. "It's nice, the forest, isn't it?"

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If given the choice, Tomen would have said he'd preferred to be alone, but that doesn't mean he shied away at the sound of someone nearby. Ears perking up and head turning about to face his company, he was met with the familiar tawny face of @Yvly. Instinctively his tail dropped, to wag respectfully at his hocks, but she seemed otherwise calm enough not to warrant too strong a display of submission. Indeed, it was like she wanted to put him at ease, so he accepted the treatment happily, stepping to the side so he could better face her.

"Yeah, it really is," he said, and smiled up at the looming trees for a moment in peaceful agreement. He knew Yvly well enough, they'd both been in the pack for a while. Yet each of the women before her had been in that rank for the exact same reason... and they were all gone, lost to obscurity. Except for his grandmother, whose decision to return to the Reach was entirely understandable and... well, @Oula.

That was a somewhat prickly subject, yet now it had occurred to him, and he wondered if it would be poor manners to bring it up.

"I was just out running," he continued, deciding that he hardly had to interrogate the poor leader yet. He could still remember how cold and tense she had looked at Oula's reunion. "Went to explore the caverns @Nineva used to live in. You been around there much? I've been among trees so long that it's - it's weird to me, to think of wolves making a home anywhere else."

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Glad to see Tomen respond as a subordinate should to their leader, Yvly did not bother with all the dominance theatrics and instead let her body relax. There was no need for that and she would never force it on another without a good enough reason. Her dark amber gaze shifted from the trees to the younger male at his agreement. Even after being in the Hollow for an entire year the tallness of the trees still amazed her; she was sure they would continue to do so until her last breath. To see them so tall made her feel like she too could forge her own path and come out victorious in the process.

"Oh really?" She grinned, eyes twinkling with mirth. "You any good? I used to go running myself but... I don't have as much time now as I did back then." It had been an easy way to clear her mind if she was having trouble relaxing, but she was not able to just go out for a run anymore, as much as she wished to. There were duties to do and wolves to care for, though sometimes she would allow herself a stroll to the neighbouring creek when everything seemed calm. Tawny ears perked up at the mention of caves, mouth curling in a curious manner. Wolves living in a cave? It sounded a little ridiculous to her. From what Tomen was implying it seemed these wolves he talked about lived inside a cave system, not just in a den.

Nose scrunching slightly the Tawny Leader shook her head. "Can't say I have, though I have to agree with you there. I lived on a wide open plains in my younger days... being trapped in caves sounds a little claustrophobic." It was a little strange talking as such with another wolf. She usually did not do small talk, but if she was going to get to know her pack mates better it seemed the best way to do so. "So you like to run for fun? Or are there other activities you like to do?"

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He resisted the urge to laugh at her question, because that wouldn't have been fair; those close to him knew the answer already, but @Yvly wasn't really one of those, he supposed. It wasn't as though he pushed it into people's faces, because the whole point of his running was that it was an escape, something he could do to clear his head. Since Tomen liked to think he was one of the subordinates that his superiors didn't have to worry about, it didn't offend or concern him that Yvly hadn't really paid him too much attention.

"Yeah, pretty good," he replied, with a modest smile, and left it at that.

Her reaction to talking about the old Whisper Caverns territory, the way that she seemed to agree with how odd it was, made an ear twitch in her direction in interest. Claustrophobic? Perhaps, but he found it exotic and exciting rather than something off-putting, and besides, he might live there one day. He was glad that his reaction wasn't quite the same as hers, but wondered if it might be different when it came to actually leaving the cedarwoods; right now, he could easily leave the caverns behind when he wanted to come back to normalcy, but that wouldn't always be the case.

By the time the leader looped back to the running topic, he hadn't really had a chance to decide how to address the whole caves issue, so let it drop. "Uh," he started, eloquent as ever, "I spend time with the kids and others, for fun and because, y'know, that's what we're supposed to. I run for fun, though, um... try to get to know the forest as well as possible, but I haven't found anything new for a long time. Don't get the opportunity to go far out, I guess, and I've been here since I was born, so... yeah. Know the cedarwoods pretty well. What about... you...?" Stupid question, she was the leader, she had all sorts of stuff to keep her busy - and she'd already said she liked to go running herself.

Tomen is adorable <3

If Tomen enjoyed going out on runs then maybe he would do well as a scout, but Yvly kept that thought to herself, not wanting to force him into doing something he did not want to do. If he wanted to pursue that role - or any role for the matter - then he would come to her or Veho asking about it, not the other way around. It was good to see him out and about however, instead of hanging around the pack den all day like a moping pup. She was unsure of what else he did while running, be it check the caches or refresh scent markers along the borders, but at the very least he was doing something he enjoyed.

The Tawny Leader let out an amused chuff as the young male stumbled slightly over his words. She used to be like that when she had been younger as a wolf who was not used to conversing much with others, but after years of practice she had become much better at talking eloquently when it was needed. "I'm sure you know all the ins and outs of the forest and surrounding territories by now with all your running around," she commented with a slightly jovial tone, tail swishing idly behind her. It was a little out of her comfort zone to be conversing with someone she knew but did not know and so she tried to keep the tone of the conversation as light as possible. Hopefully she was not being too awkward.

"Me?" She responded to Tomen with a raised brow and perked ears. "Well, it's not very interesting I must admit. I don't often have the chance to go too far beyond the borders, and most of my time is spent doing the same tasks over and over again - usually patrolling the borders, keeping an eye on the food caches and checking up on the the young ones." Yvly shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly; what she did was not very exciting so she did not go into much detail about it lest she bore Tomen to tears. "So you go to the caverns often? Are they close by?" Her mind had kept nagging on about these caves, and even though it sounded silly to live in them, if she ever got the chance she would quite like to explore at least a little bit of them in the future.

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