Larkcall Lowlands taste the danger

@Castel sorry it took me a bit to get this up. This would be like...nearish to WRF, closer than the antler ring but not really near the borders idunno

Sahalie was not opposed to Castel joining their hypothetical pack, but it felt weird to extend the invitation to someone she barely knew and to drop the conversation entirely. All she knew about Castel was that she was a bit of a flirt, she had a nice smile, and that Sahalie was convinced she was a good person. But Sahalie knew nearly everything there was to know about Alastor, and she had spent countless hours with Larkspur—who she assumed was going to follow her out of the Monadnock just like he had followed her in. Sahalie had always told herself that when she was a leader she would not be so scrutinizing like some other leaders were: distrustful like Drestig, or high-standards as Craw. This was not to say she wanted to be like Spieden, who more or less didn't care where a wolf slept as long as they contributed. No, Sahalie wanted to care, she wanted to help. Her pack would be one where loners could feel safe and heal their tired, hardened, judgmental hearts. So she wanted to know Castel.

It was odd, though, to know that she was closing in on Drestig and Jessie's borders but feel unsafe approaching, like it would be unwise to go any further. A howl crept up her throat before she muzzled herself, letting out a frustrated whine instead. The tension between Whitestone Monadnock and Wild Rye Fields was confusing but very real: Askan's upfront disrespect, Lorcan's wild suspicion. She worried that Drestig or Jessie, upon hearing her would run out here and discover that she was a traitor or a bad wolf or something. And they would tell her to leave the Monadnock or they would be upset with her.

Chewing on her lip, Sahalie could only hope that Castel would show up eventually. If she did not the girl would just have to turn back and return to the Monadnock.

Cas knew that Sahalie would come looking for her eventually, but she hadn't realized it would be so soon. She'd been exploring all the nooks and crannies of Wild Rye Fields' territory, on her own, because while she loved her packmates, she had found no reason whatsoever for them to be up each others' tails all the time. A little space was nice to have, and this way she could go catch a rabbit or something to bring back so they could eat. She was sure her companions were hungry. The howl that rang out over the valley was unexpected, and Cas very nearly ignored it before she recognized the voice and promptly changed her course of direction to follow the noise. Hopefully she'd arrive there before anyone else from her pack. She didn't think Drestig or Askan would like too much to find a Monadnock wolf on the borders. The silver-and-red girl crossed the border with ease; she wasn't too keen on boundaries anyway, and a friend was summoning her. Of course she'd leave the pack's territory for that. She didn't think Sahalie would be calling for anything unimportant, after all. She spotted the brown girl from a ways off, and broke into an easy trot, tail raising and waving in a greeting. "Hi," she chirped, walking up and tapping her nose to her self-proclaimed friend's. "You called?" Her voice was light, cheerful, and slightly teasing as she addressed the other girl.

@Castel

Castel showed up soon enough, her dark head cresting over the snowy hill and Sahalie's tail began to wag. No one else was with her, and that was good. It was beginning to dawn on Sahalie that Drestig and Jessie might actually be offended that she chose another pack over there's, but she had come to the Monadnock because this had been the pack that Spieden chose. Sahalie left Oak Tree Bend for Spieden, who didn't exactly get along with Jessie. As far as Sahalie knew, @Jessie, upon hearing the whole story, might have chosen Serach's side of things—loyalty was at Jessie's core. Taking a shaky breath as the distance closed between the two yearlings, Sahalie resolved to have no more dealings with the Rye wolves until she was out of the Monadnock.

"Hi!" she chirped back, suddenly a little self-conscious as she wondered how to even go about "getting to know" this girl. Befriending someone had never been as forced as this. Alastor and her had just hung out; in the case of both Kyna and Sven she had gone exploring and they had discovered all sorts of weird things. But Castel was different. Castel had kissed Alastor and now she would be joining the group and Sahalie had never out right asked someone for their life story before.

"Uhm, idunno I thought I'd just...check up on you." See how she was doing? As if there was any reason Castel would be anything less than fine. She seemed like a healthy young wolf. "Though maybe if you weren't busy we could go see the sights or something. Adventure, you know, that sort of stuff," her tail wagged cautiously behind her as her smile widened.

The dark chocolate girl seemed friendly enough, if not a bit awkward, but Cas didn't blame her. Almost everything about the circumstances behind their initial meeting had been slightly awkward, and if Cas cared more about what others thought of her, she might be feeling a little of that uncomfortable emotion as well. As it would happen, however, she did not care, and she found no reason to feel out-of-place or uncomfortable at all. Castel waited patiently for the other yearling to speak, and smiled when she did. "I'm doing very well," she informed her with a grin and a wag of her tail. "I mean, some of my packmates - or, one in particular - is a total ass, but everything's going very well." She almost inquired of Sahalie's wellbeing, but a quick scan of the plump wolf's body told her all she needed to know on that front. Sahalie looked extremely healthy, and the Monadnock were a fruitful pack. Besides, she didn't really want to pry. Her blue eyes lit up when the other girl mentioned an adventure, and she gave a light chuckle. "Now you're speaking my language," she told her, a grin on her maw. "You seem like you'd be a great adventuring companion." She cleared her throat, straightened her posture, and deepened her voice to add, "Where to, Captain?"

this post is a bit of a....meh. Hope you can find something to respond to LOL i am sorry. Also for taking forever. @Castel

Wild Rye Fields was not necessarily a small pack by any means, but it was small by Sahalie's standards. She assumed without hesitation that she knew the wolf Castel was referring to. "@Askan eh?" He was the kind of fellow that woke up on the wrong side of the den every day. But he meant well and that was, in the end, all that really mattered to the east-born girl. As a result she just waved his grumpiness aside with a laugh and kept on going. She had hoped he was a bit nicer with his pack mates, but perhaps that wasn't the case. Castel was new, after all, and perhaps it took quite a bit of wearing in for him to crack a smile or ....crack a frown or ... make any sort of expression. "He's a big nut, but I'm sure you can crack him." Or kiss him.

Would that fix things?

Probably not.

Her dark face crinkled with delight to hear the other girl's enthusiasm. "Well... we could hunt but..." she shrugged, "Hunting is such a bore, you know?" Maybe other wolves liked the exercise. Sahalie felt like it was a chore most of the time. "And, besides, I haven't been here long. I dont' know the area...." But they definitely could not go north (towards the Monadnock) or south (towards the fields).

Her head turned slowly, until she was looking all the way over her shoulder like a fat brown owl. Eastward. Sahalie would always find her heart turning in this direction. "Let's go this way!" And immediately she turned and trotted off.