Riddle Heights Aching bones and dirty feet

for @“Greer”

Morganna had slept restlessly, she shouldn’t be stopping, she needed to get back but if she didn’t rest she’d be no good to anyone. Rising from her makeshift bed between two slanted boulders she walked towards the borders of the heights, a short call for her brother thrown out quickly while her eyes anxiously watched the sky. Niles had been worried about storms and she wanted to do everything she could to make sure she was back before the next one hit, even if the rest of them wouldn’t make it before then, she at least, wanted to be on hand.

She paced the border, barely contained anxiety an unusual look for the usually stony faced wolf.

He had not been expecting his older sister to return to the Heights so soon. Greer figured she would be busy plotting and assembling her rag-tag group of wolves, or whatever it was she had planned. The howl dragged him away from his patrol, tugging his legs in a different direction as his pace quickened. As he arrived at the borders the younger Archer was surprised to see how nervous his sister appeared. It was a look he had not seen on her dark features before. His brows pinched together as he padded toward her, his nose pressing against hers. What’s wrong? He asked silently, his features tight with worry as a lump formed in the back of his throat. Had she heard of the altercation between the Aurora wolves and their birthpack? No—she smelt all wrong. She smelt of the east—of the lands Niles belonged to.

At her brothers touch Morganna forced a more characteristic smirk, her shoulders dropping and tail wagging because she didn’t need him worrying too. Her muzzle worked its way under @“Greer”’s chin in silent thanks for getting here so fast where she could drop her expression without cause for concern. ”I found Niles, ‘is girl’s in a bad way an’ from what I could figure there was only one other wolf with’em. Could yer loan me a scout? There’s been a change o’ plans.” she pulled back to give him a lopsided smile with a tilt of her head, ”I’ll make it up’ter yer.”

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Morganna didn’t take long to get to the point. Her expression had shifted as soon as he approached, her infamous Morg-smirk returning to her dark features. As she spoke his ears were cupped forward, the corners of his mouth tight with concern. Greer had met Niles’ lady friend before he had reunited with his younger brother and while she was a rather strange individual the leggy Archer knew that she made Niles happy. His heart ached for the younger Archer—he could not imagine anything happening to Kyna. Even the thought of it felt like his insides were being ripped apart. Could yer loan me a scout? Without hesitation he nodded, his expression still firm. A scout, an army—he would do anything for his sister (and brother). He was curious as to what Morganna was cooking up—there’s been a change o’ plans—but now was not the time for questions.

Tossing his nose to the sky Greer called the other Archer on the mountain—@Attica.

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2017, 04:13 AM by Greer.)

Morganna could see the impact her words had on @“Greer”. Much like the thought of losing one of her children to the wilds or Odin’s lost eye twisted her own stomach into knots, it was little surprise that he nodded and called for another. Attica? She knew that name. ”Sven’s sister?” there was clearly more that she was missing from the picture than she knew, but they could come back to that later as the girl made her presence known with her approach.

She wished she had more time to spare on introductions, to actually get some feel for the niece she was meeting for the first time but now was not the time, maybe... after... She shook her head. ”Yer know Renier yeah?” she trusted the girl would given the overlap of time they spent together in the willows. ”’e’s at th’ lagoon wi’ some other wolves, I need yer ter tell ‘em they’re needed three days east o’ th’ heights. Nile’s mate’s in a bad way, we’ll redirect th’ paths fer th’ pups so they can find us there... If yer up ter it, yer might want ter let @“Ravenna” know too. Tell ‘er Morganna’s gone east, if it’s not gonna put yer out.” She threw a questioning glance to her brother, he’d have the finalnsay on the last request.

His sister being here might have been part of the reason Sven was so standoffish at their last meeting? But she never pretended to know what ran through the heads of males.

The call had been unexpected, not that she was doing much of consequence, nosing through the caches to check if they needed refilling before taking off to hunt or otherwise occupy herself learning the strange plants that grew this high before the snow finally covered the ground completely. She blinked once, then twice, Oh! Yes, that was certainly a call for her and she was never going to answer it unless she started moving her feet.

She came upon her uncle and a smaller dark woman, her silvered brows pinching together as she started directing her, tail waving slightly at the mention of Renier, then pausing as she went on to ask her to pass on a message to Ravenna. So this was Morganna? She was certainly smaller than Attica had expected, but otherwise very much straight to the point. Her own silver eyes turned to Greer as well. Was it really the best idea to be going to the willows after... last time?

Sven’s sister? He lowered his nose and gave a firm nod, his mercury eyes narrowing. Good sister. Not like Sven. Attica was the best thing about both his older brother and the pale wench.

Attica wasted no time in arriving on the scene, her Archer legs carrying her quickly over the mountain. He glanced between them, his gaze lingering on his sharp-tongued sister as he waited for her to explain why he had called for her. He did not know how his mate would feel about him sharing scouts, but it was for good reason. Family was just as important to the shadow as his scarlet wife—Kyna knew that. If it was up to him Greer would have gone himself to find Renier and Morganna’s rag-tag group, but he knew he couldn’t leave his daughter and mate for that long. Not while their numbers were so small. He met Attica’s gaze and nodded. Greer meet Attica, he added, motioning to the east where the willows resided, if Attica want? He knew things had been sour the last time the Aurora wolves were at the Ridge borders. He turned to Morganna: Sven angry. At Greer. Morg. He rolled his eyes. Sven shame Archer name. Greer told Sven. His nose wrinkled. 

Good sister. Morganna openly laughed, having never expected such a thing to crawl out of Hecate, but she supposed her own mother would have had a hand in raising the girl since her parents abandoned her and no amount of influence from Sven could ever outshine the light thrown by Elettra Archer, or even Ravenna she supposed.

Her own eyes rolled to match Greer's, "Oh, I know." her comment was thrown in response to Sven being angry, when wasn't he angry? But the news of conflict between the two packs was more worrying. "I warned Ravenna 'e's gonna cause problems. Keeps making' promises 'e can't keep. Apparently, I'll never live south as long as 'e breathes. If 'e keeps up I can arrange it." A scowl was lining her face now, but she had more pressing matters to attend to.

"I dunno how long she's got left, I dunno if they'll even get there b'fore... An' I dunno if we’ll stay there fer th’ whole winter. I am quite attached ter th’ west.” She smirked. That should be enough to fill Greer in on her plans.

She looked back to the yearling once more, "It only took me almost two days ter get here, but if yer tell 'em three, they're less likely ter stop short."

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2017, 09:53 PM by Morganna.)

When Greer offered to accompany her, she felt her shoulders sag with relief. As much as Attica missed her aunt she feared whatever retribution might rain down on her for her little outburst the other day from her brother. "Maybe we should go see Ravenna first?" It would take the guesswork out of meeting up at the willows on her way back and wasn't entirely out of the way. It didn't look like Morganna particularly cared for the order as long as the message was passed on. Two, maybe three days east of the heights, Niles, Morganna - and let Ravenna know where she had gone and why. Yeah, she thought she could handle that much right? At least with any luck, Greer would be with her for the first leg of the journey and Renier and whoever else was with him could accompany her home.