Whitestone Monadnock a proper polish welcome

@Craw @Morganna 
Combo join with Spieden, @Marina and Mako. Sahalie branches off before the border. Pups first plz?

All Spieden knew of Capable's pack was that it lay in the north, somewhere past the lake, and that the peculiar monadnock was the place's namesake. The little group consisting of Spieden, @Sahalie (and company?), Mako and Marina made it to the lake without trouble, spending some time resting and hunting muskrats to keep hunger at bay. Spieden couldn't help the hope that she might bump into the red-headed woman here. But it didn't happen, and Spieden pushed them onward, northward. The days were much shorter and colder the further they went, and the trees grew scarce. It was like an alien world, and it was hard to shake the uncanny feeling of seeing the once familiar mountain looming in the south rather than the west, from a side she'd never seen before.

For a while she started to wonder if she was even going in the right direction. The lowlands seemed endless, little bits of rock or shrub breaking it up here and there. But then she saw it looming on the horizon. Straight walls, like a tree... Well, Capable was right, you really couldn't miss the thing. The land was scented by heavy traffic, even as far from the borders as they were. It was a large pack, at least the size the Bend had been, before. A pack of that size wouldn't be a bad place to blend in... But Sahalie didn't seemed comforted by it. They talked a little, and here decided to go their separate ways. Spieden wished her luck, but it was hard to see her go. Another sort of emptiness took its place.

Spieden at least had the advantage of knowing how this worked, in reverse. True, she couldn't be sure of the Monadnock wolves she might meet, nor their personalities and customs. But some things were universal. It was the dead of winter, and a ragged looking mother with two cubs in tow couldn't look very good. She knew they couldn't just show up there looking like a family of dirty beggars.

First of all, they had to look presentable. She spent the pre-dawn picking every little twig from her pelt and licking clean every spot of dirt, washing away the grime of travel. The scabs on her snout and shoulder she could do nothing for, but she at least tidied up the worst of the dried blood. And once she was satisfied she'd gone over herself with a fine toothed comb, she turned her attention to Mako and Marina. And not only did appearances have to be in place, Spieden had even dragged a fat muskrat along from the lake with her, which in the freezing cold had stayed edible. She had always appreciated when loners brought a little snack along with them.

Shaking out her fur and trying to squash down her nerves, she started towards the pack's border as the sun finally rose from its low position in the sky. She stopped at the territory's edge holding Mako and Marina back and pointing them to stay behind her. The muskrat she set down on the ground in front of herself. She took a deep breath, steadying herself before she tipped her head back, releasing a long howl for the leaders of the Monadnock. Before she sat down, she cast an eye back towards Mako and Marina. "I want you two on your best behavior. If they speak to you, be polite, answer any questions they have. Otherwise, be quiet. And no bickering." She told them, looking them both in the eye before settling her gaze forwards, watching a line of pale light from the rising sun climb its way down the Monadnock.

Mako had to admit, this whole thing was kind of exciting at first. He'd never really gotten too close with the rest of the pack, and really didn't miss them too much. All the wolves he really cared about were with him anyways. That they had left the others behind was of little consequence to the boy. And good riddance, he wanted nothing to do with wolves that hurt his mom like that, that made his unshakable mother shake and cower. Fortunately, the fresh air appeared to be doing her some good, and at the lake digging around for water rats together, he could almost pretend everything was normal. 

Mako felt protective of their little band, and took it upon himself to keep up the rear, vigilant for anything that might hurt them on their travels. He'd finally grown into the overly large paws of his childhood, and while his skill was still largely lacking and his frame still had some filling out to do, the boy looked formidable in size.

Mako hid his upset when Sahalie parted ways with them. While he didn't really care about those they left behind at the Bend, Sahalie was his big sister. He didn't want them to be separated. He put on a stiff upper lip, trying to not show how much it bothered him. They continued on, and he followed his mother towards the strange flat mountain. Mako barely tolerated all the fussing as Spieden tried to make them look presentable, brushing his paw back over his head when she wasn't looking to maintain his fashionably ruffled look. 

As he settled on his haunches beside Marina, he nodded at his mother's warning. Maybe another time he might have disregarded it, but the woman seemed in no place for shenanigans this past week. He was sure to be on his best behavior. "Yep, got it." He said, nodding.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Mako might have thought this entire thing to be an excellent adventure, but his sister was not terribly inclined to agree. While the only things in the Bend she truly cared about had come with them, it seemed that peace would not hold forever. As they neared the giant, blocky stone-looking thing, Sahalie had peeled off from the group, taking her silvery friend with her. And then the merry band was down to three from the six it once was; Kyna had left before Hal had.

Ears laid back against her skull as they parted, and she opened her mouth to say something … but their mother wished the older girl well, and what could Marina really say?

So she held her tongue for the first time in all her life, and took after Mako; he’d only call her a whiny baby again where she to speak up now, with Sahalie gone. The thicker Coho pup took up the rear, her head hung low, her tail hung lower, and only gave the weakest of fights when Spieden began to make her children over. Her ears remained plastered against her head as Mako plunked himself down next to her, looking all the world like a perfectly groomed prince. Since when was this how Mako presented himself?!

The girl gave a soft grumble and sunk into herself even further, offering her mother a brief glower before sighing. The expression melted away – she couldn’t be mad at the Coho; none of this was her fault. So she stared at her big, fat paws and gave a small nod. “Yes, mum.”

She rose with the sun, in the usual way, bowing down to stretch and shake before kicking her children out of the den to go and do something productive with themselves. Odin had @Anaia to look in on and Kara could always do with more sparring to help her brush up, now that it was even murkier than before just what they should expect from their southern neighbors. She was about to set out on a border patrol when the howl reached her, Already on her way, she picked up the pace a little while being mindful that under all this snow, there could still be ice, even on their well travelled little goat track.

They were easy to spot, the dark gathering that they were, and for a moment she stopped dead in her tracks, almost certain she was seeing a ghost. She was quick to shake the suspicion off, moving in closer, allowing her head to lift while her tail rested comfortably in line with her spine. They had stopped respectfully and notified the pack that they were waiting, there was no need to be overbearing just yet. It wasn't until she finally joined them that she realised that two of them were children, the same age as her own, still her eyes lingered on the younger girl just a moment longer than they did on the boy.

Finally, her gaze settled on the scarred woman with a hint of a smile, "Now who do we 'ave here? I'm Morganna Archer," she added her own introduction to save time down the track. On a personal level, she didn't think this one would take much heavy thought.

With no voices of protest from behind her, Spieden sighed and tried to relax some. She hated that she had to drag them all through this, thinking of how at this very moment in time, in another chain of events they might be all sleeping peacefully in the pack den under the great oak, warm and comfortable rather than freezing their noses out in the cold light of dawn. But that was a fairy tale, there was no peace to be found back there, and dreaming of what could have been was just that, dreams and fantasy. There was no doubt in her mind that she had made the right choice, and even then there wasn't really a choice. Leaving had been the only option if she wanted to keep her family safe.

Finally Spieden spied a dark shape making its way over the snow towards her. A woman a bit smaller than herself, who stopped before them with her tail raised. There was a second of hesitation before Spieden ducked her head down, her uneven ears folding as she remembered how to submit. She wasn't a very dominant wolf to begin with, but actively lowering herself was something she hadn't done in a long time... Years, even. She noticed the female's lingering gaze, and resisted the urge to look back and see if Mako had a twig sticking out from behind his ear. The woman introduced herself with a smile, and Spieden remembered hearing the name from Capable. The leader, and if she remembered correctly, there was a male too... Claw or something?

"I'm Spieden Coho," She began, "And these," She gestured with a bob of her head to the pair sitting behind her, "Are my children, Marina and Mako." Her grey paws fidgeted a little, crunching the snow beneath her and nearly stepping on the dead muskrat. "We... had to leave our old pack, suddenly. We're looking for a new one, and not just to hold out for over the season." She said, glancing upwards at Morganna, trying to gauge how this was going.

@Marina

Mako was patient at first. He could wait, just a little bit. What they were waiting for, he wasn't really sure. Why couldn't they just go in and find the leader themselves? He saw no problem in that, in fact, it would speed things up a little. The Bend's isolation hadn't taught him much about proper visiting protocols. 

The waiting stretched on longer than he liked, and he started to wriggle in place once the thin reserves of his patience wore out. His stomach gurgled and he licked his lips. He couldn't help but stare at the muskrat his mother had brought along with them. He thought it was a smart idea at first, bring the food with them so they could snack on it later. He had been so disappointed when he learned that they weren't going to eat it, and someone else was. What a waste of perfectly good food! It was yet another thing he didn't get. 

Mako scooted towards Marina, slowly, finally leaning into his sister's side when he got close enough. "This is so booooring," He whispered to her under his breath. Just when he thought he was going to die of boredom, a little black speck finally appeared on the horizon. Mako stared at the lady who introduced herself as Morganna.

Mako was right.

This was not something Marina was about to admit out loud, but her brother was right. Sitting and waiting for something to happen was incredibly boring, especially when a tasty chunk of meat was sitting right in front of the pups. Her stomach growled as she eyed it – what on earth had the wolves here done to deserve it? They hadn’t agreed to anything yet.

Shifting her weight into the Coho’s side, she bobbed her head, finally glancing up from her large paws. “Super boring,” she scoffed, eyes flicking over to follow his buttercup gaze. There, on the horizon, was a black speck that arrived, introducing herself as Morganna before their mother introduced the little family. Marina fought the urge to roll her eyes, squirming uncomfortably as the stranger’s gaze lingered a little too long.

Leaning back into Mako, she whispered, “What’s she looking at? I got something in my fur?” Speiden had gone over the pair with a fine-toothed comb – at least, the young seal had thought so, but the look Morganna had given her was enough to make her hair prickle. It was like looking right through her. She bumped Mako again, brows furrowed. “I don’t like this.”

Perhaps she was being less formal for the sake of the children or maybe the appearance of Marina really had thrown her. Her eyes rested on the mother steadily, taking in her scars both new and old. It was a bad case of deja vu, except this time she was grown. Then the woman introduced herself Morganna visibly flinched. Coho. Was she dreaming? Eyes once again passed over the children as her breathing increased in pace. She could hear her own heart thundering in her ears, so loud she was sure the gathered wolves would hear it too. She didn't realise she had begun to shake, or that she was moving closer until she stumbled, the jerking movement enough to bring her back.

Eyes full of wonder and grief settled on the scarred woman and a small voice, so unlike her own squeaked out. "C-coho?" to check she had heard correctly once again. She coughed to try and clear the lump that had formed in her throat but it couldn't be wrong. The resemblance was too strong. "D-did yer know Nonna Skana?" she questioned hopefully, with a low childish wave of her tail, completely forgetting just why she had been called to the borders in the first instance. "She was m'mothers dearest friend an' advisor, down in Willow Ridge..." She tacked on the latter as an afterthought in case the woman thought her insane, still inching closer with her own uncertain but friendly movements. Could it really be?

”Which pack ‘ave yer come from?” She finally remembered why they were here, eyes drifting back over the children and wondering if they might answer in their mother’s stead.

For a moment Spieden wondered if she’d said something wrong. She licked her lips nervously as the Monadnock leader suddenly started moving, coming closer to her. Spieden leapt to her toes as the lady stumbled, worried she might crack her nose on the ground or something. Thankfully Morganna caught herself, requiring no immediate rescue. Instead Spieden stood by awkwardly, watching as the female seemed to silently grapple with something.

Spieden could only nod stiffly as the woman stammered out her surname, her amber eyes slightly widened, not sure if that was a good or bad thing. She had no idea what to make of it yet. But then of all things that could happen, she did not expect Morganna to ask if she knew Skana… Nonna Skana.

Spieden’s jaw opened, flapping noiselessly as she tried to find some form of words. She blinked, looking at the woman’s dark coat and her mind immediately wondering if the leader was a displaced Blackfish herself. Morganna was a little young to be a cousin. A niece? Or even one of Tsitka’s daughters, perhaps? But thankfully Morganna explained further before Spieden could sputter out any half-baked words. But the explation only brought out more questions, she wasn’t even sure what she was hearing. Dearest friend… advisor… Willow Ridge? That pack over the mountains? It didn’t make any sense. None of it was anything she’d remembered her mother telling her, nothing in any of the histories Wasgo taught them. Unless it hadn’t been before...

Spieden gaped at Morganna, feeling like she was floating freely for a moment, her paws very far away and the dark alphess even farther. She hadn’t died?

She sharply inhaled, finding her voice again. “Skana… Know her! Gods, yes, she’s my mother.” Spieden finally said, shaking her head roughly as she tried to understand, her eyes suddenly stinging. “I was sure she had died five years ago…” She supposed she’d never seen her mother’s body, but she had figured after facing an entire pack there was no way she had gotten far alive. There had been so much blood spattered across the ground, already dried in the summer heat. But she’d never seen what was left of her mother, and she’d quickly learned to stop asking questions. “I can’t- I can’t believe,” Spieden stammered, “She came here?” She softly whined. Her mind was spinning around and around. The same loss a second time, for them to pass like ships in the night. She was so worked up over trying to figure it out, trying to shift her understanding of the world, that she missed the third question Morganna asked.