Starscream & Others

No less than an hour after leaving the Aspen Grove to scope the layout of their neighbors, Starscream was back, with Isias, Crucifix, and.. a few others in tow. Before crossing over his own border, Scream turned a look back at Crucifix, "Have them wait here, at the borders." He was speaking of the non-canines that had accompanied the alpha, and his request would come as no surprise to anyone who knew him. As Crucifix himself had time to learn, the grizzled leader simply did not trust non-canines.

Scream started into his territory after that, heading directly for the dens where he'd left the rest of the pack. A sharp howl was sent skyward, rallying his family and the young, and alerting everyone to gather. He had to make sure everyone was accounted for, and all the young were moved before the Haunters had a chance to strike.

Kaina*Others

In the days since the confrontation with Cavan, and all the stress that had followed, there had been time to rest, but few of them had truly done that with any real efficiency. Patrols had naturally been increased to look for any follow-up runs by the enemy, and Kaina had been among those to volunteer herself for these, being mostly uninjured herself and also having the keen senses and soft steps that aided her in picking up on incoming enemies without being detected herself. She'd never been bold about insisting her inclusion in these matters, ever aware that she was still very new to this pack, but she had offered her services consistently, again and again, and whatever was asked of her, she was prepared to do. Of course, much of the time, there was need for extra eyes to be upon the pups, or upon Liseli as she began to heal a little more and feel better. For one, the aging beta still needed a bit of aid in getting around, mostly if she was going to cover a distance of more than just the few feet of ground outside the den, and even devoted Darling needed to sleep and get a break from her erratic friend, sometimes. But at the moment, Kaina's attention was free - she lifted her head at the sound of Starscream's voice, and immediately was on all fours, traveling fleetly toward the call. Behind her and slightly to the east, she heard the loud responding cry of Liseli, and whomever currently had charge of her would have to rouse themselves as well - Kaina heard the brush of branches as the white fae tromped into the trees, her movements slow but determined, her steps a little less than balanced. Knowing that there were others to tend to Liseli though, the small silver female didn't slow her pace until Starscream was in view, and even then was bold enough to walk right up to him, ears and tail lowered slightly to indicate respect, and exchange a little nose-sniff with him, to check that he was sound and well. It indicated a concern over his well-being... one that was beginning to grow, as time passed and she learned that Star wasn't such a bad guy, really... he just had a flirting problem.

Crucifix

Crucifix told Bulldozer and the others to wait and he followed Starscream. His ears, nose and eyes on alert. He watched as Star called to his pack and they soon began moving to meet them.

TAyzeka was watching her pups and hulia as Hulia had gone in search of her missing daughter. Her ears were back as she approached star licked his muzzle and then stood by her children and neice and nephews. She would wait for Hulia to return to alert Star. She knew he had alot on his plate and she just hoped Sakura was found.

Hulia had gone searching and had located part of Sakura's trail but it seemed to of been blown around. With her body low she moved toward the call. She came up to star and licked his muzzle though everything was half hearted. I hate to put more on your plate.... My daughter Sakura.... She's gone Missing. I pick up her scent and a dogs scent to the east half of our home but the wind seems to of distorted the scents.She said.

Megatron bounded up to his father his little tail above his back. Whats going on?He said. Though he had caught the gist of it before hand he was just acting as if he had returned to his mother.

Kurok had stayed behind at Star's request to watch the pack and was soon moving with them to star. Is their place safe to go to?He said.

Torek moved forth and sat by his sisters

Starscream & Others

Before he'd even quite reached the den site, many of his pack were already responding to his call and surging forward to greet their returned alpha. Starscream raised his head and allowed his ruff to expand as the first trio of females approached. A raised tail was added to the display, until the emotionally haggard leader at least looked as confident and powerful as one in his position should be. The greeting sniffs and licks to the muzzle did help a great deal, reaffirming his bond with the pack, and reminding him of the intense loyalty that came with it. It stirred his sense of purpose and will to fight, and he returned their devotion with a brief nuzzle to each. Cortinarri came forth soon enough, being the one who was currently tending to Liseli, and after her, Keap and Kaiser appeared to offer their leader their respect and submission - and in Kaiser's case, that meant flatting his ears and tucking his tail entirely, while Keap got off with only a lowering of his head.

Starwhisper and Sentalia bounded out with their siblings, and each greeted their father with an enthusiastic display of romping about under his legs and licking his muzzle. If war wasn't on the horizon, it would have been a perfect reunion. Unfortunately, Star could not fully enjoy all of this, and something about Hulia's half-hearted gestures clued the alpha in on a problem. His heart sank as soon as the mother explained the problem, "Missing? How did this happen?" A fearful snarl played in his vocals, "How long ago did she disappear?"

Darling was just now arriving on the scene, with Crow and In'Alak trailing further behind. She slunk forward and nudged Megatron, trying to corral her half brother back away from Star, "Dad's busy right now. Come aside over here, and I'll explain things, okay?" In trying to distract her younger sibling, Darling didn't miss the way his tail was raised. She could only imagine how much of a handful he'd be as he got older, and what that might mean for Scream.

Starscream looked to Kurok and rumbled quietly, not at his beta, but in fury over the fact that a pup was missing. "Safe enough, and..." The alpha faltered, trying to decide the best course of action. It was one thing having an adult run off against his orders during such dangerous times. But a pup? He couldn't leave her out there, "Kurok, I want you to travel with Isias and Crucifix, and escort the young and vulnerable to the Parnassian Meadows. Crucifix will guide you to the den site. Darling, go with them." Darling looked up, but said nothing against her father's orders. "Kaina, Hulia, come with me to track down Sakura." Kaina was chosen for her acute senses and suburb attention to detail, as well as her knack with young ones. "The rest of you, wait here until we return. I don't know when Valian plans on bringing in his group, but we'll need to rendezvou with him. If the Haunters show up... go south to the Parnassian Meadows." Starscream nodded roughly to Hulia now, "Show me where you last tracked her scent."

Kaina*Others

The initially sniffing she gave Starscream slowly evolved into a more concentrated effort, as she slowly began to nose over the wounds she'd cleaned for him several days ago. They were all but healed over by now, and she didn't expect to find any of them openly bleeding and in need of cleaning again, but this was a show of attentiveness on her part... which perhaps went a little past the simple interest of a pack member wanting to ensure the good health of their alpha. And so she moved slowly about him, nosing that long slice by his neck and giving it a good sniffing to check for any infection; this was accompanied by little licks here and there to set the fur into a bit better order, but she was silent as she worked through her task. She could feel the air of tension around her, and soon she had more reason to understand why everyone was tense - aside from the ongoing difficulties with the Haunters, there was now a pup missing, and that was something that put all of Kaina's senses on high alert.

"Good morning, Darling... did you sleep well?" Completely without cognizance of all that was occurring, as was quickly becoming a norm, Liseli limped into the gathering and immediately moved up beside the younger fae, offering her side a long stroke with her muzzle. Cortinarri and Darling were the two that Liseli almost always remembered, these days, and could identify by name on a very steady basis, since those were the two that most often tended her. Kaina flicked back one ear to account for the old beta, but her attention was more on Sakura... and on the orders she was quickly receiving to aid them in finding the endangered pup. "Of course," was her answer, and she quickly directed her attention to Hulia, waiting for the mother to guide them to the last place she'd smelled her daughter.

Crucifix

Crucifix watched the group gathered and his ears flickered. He dipped his head and once Kurok moved to do what he was asked to do he turned and headed back keeping a slow enough pace for the young. One ear back on the group while the other flicking around.

Kurok nodded and ushered TAyzeka and Hulia's pups to follow after Crucifix

Tayzeka was gonna stay with her pups, she wasn't much of a fighter anyways.

Hulia dipped her head .About two or so hours I thinkShe felt likea horrible mother but then turned and began to lead the two back to where she had last smelt her and the strange dog. I believe they left the territory as the scent does go to the border just there but the wind as pushed the scents aroundShe said. She sniffed the ground and was now zig zagging trying to find the most prominant of smells. The good thing was that she didn't smell blood.

Starscream & Others

The extra bit of attention shown to him by Kaina gave the alpha a few short moments of reprieve from from all that was happening. For a brief moment in time, he could almost forget about the war, and allow himself the peace and bliss of being surrounded by his family. He even extended his muzzle to sniff over the top of her head and ears, reciprocating her attentive gestures with a brief one of his own. All too quickly though, the pack greeting was grinding to a halt, and wolves were splitting themselves into one of three groups.

Cortinarri moved with Liseli and Darling, joining the ranks of Tayzeka and the pups. Knowing that one pup was missing, the old grandmother kept an eagle's eye on the remaining youngster, making sure everyone from Sentalia to Fiara were accounted for. And to better facilitate the move, she opted to travel near the back, so that if a pup did start to wonder too far from the group, she would be the first to see them.

After corralling Megatron and seeing that Sentalia and Starwhisper had joined the group at their uncle's urgring, Darling gave Liseli a soft smile. "I did. I'd sleep better if there were less fleas in the den though." She chuckled lightly, even though she didn't really feel laughter in her heart. She was frightened and worried, but had rebounded after the shock of Cavan's attack and had donned a much stronger attitude in the past few days. "Moving to a new den for a short while will help with that."

A quiet argument had started between In'Alak and Crow, with the former refusing to be grouped with the infirm and elder, despite his wounds. Keap and Kaiser stood nearby, deciding to let the two friends hash out the disagreement. And while they did that, Starscream was quickly disappearing into the surrounded woodlands after Hulia, nose to the ground and ears perked. "How could this have happened? How many of you were there watching the pups?" His anger got the better of him and he snapped at Hulia, who was already feeling horrid enough over her missing daughter. "Two hours... she could be anywhere by now!" The alpha slowed to a stop suddenly, coming across Hutch's scent. His nose quivered intently and his lips drew back in a silent snarl. "A young male... can't be more than a year old. A dog of some sort. Doesn't smell like a Haunter..."

Kaina*Others

It took little time for the pack to get organized - with few exceptions, Aspen Grove was a well-bonded, obedient pack, and when their alpha spoke, they obeyed. Liseli was quite often one of those few exceptions... but thankfully, Darling had distracted her quickly enough, and though she turned looks over her shoulder as her two usual companions began to lead her away, she fell quickly enough into conversation with them. "What you need, Darling, is a good swim. This kind of weather is perfect for it, and that'll get rid of the fleas, too." Of course, fleas were truly the last thing on almost anybody's mind, but since Liseli hadn't yet had the awareness that there was more than just a missing pup at play today, she wasn't inclined to be difficult... yet.

"Just over a year, actually." Now that they'd gotten to the area in question, Kaina too put her keen nose to the ground, one of her ears flicking back a little to show that she wasn't trying to start an argument in disagreeing with Starscream, but was merely pointing out the facts as she detected them. "No, he doesn't smell of the Haunters... doesn't smell of any pack that I've ever encountered." Her nose wrinkled, and she traveled a few feet onward, until it became so vague and old that, even to her nose, it was very difficult to pick up. "...what was a dog like that doing all the way out here?" The first mumble was to herself, and after she sorted through the grass again to ensure that she hadn't made a mistake, she spoke up louder. "The male in question smells of human... he has lived, for a long period of time, though perhaps not recently among or alongside humans. What puzzles me is what would have brought such a creature all the way out here, so far from the human places... to apparently steal Sakura?" That truly had her puzzled. If whoever it was wanted a pup... why didn't they get one closer to home? And if there was some malicious intent behind the matter... surely, it would have been a Haunter?

Hulia

Hulia moved trying to figure things out and then Star snapped and she lowered herself and moved to STarscream and rolled over and licked at his muzzle in submission. Im sorry. I tried to keep an eye on them all! but I thought she had just gone in the bushs after your rebuke to her.She whimpered.

Crucifix and the others headed to parnassian meadow.

Starscream & Others

Darling managed a pretty good game face, keeping herself together when her heart was going out to the missing pup, while her mind was constantly on edge about the assault that could be launched at any time by the Shadow Haunters. It was a tenuous line for the wolfess to navigate, because on one side Liseli's mental fragility spurred her to be strong for the elder's sake. On the other, Darling was prone to fear and weak confidence, and it was sometimes a struggle to keep her head above water for the sake of her pack. Having a few days to absorb everything seemed to have helped however, and so for now, she was smiling softly to her crippled friend as they followed Crucifix towards the edge of the territory, and on towards the Parnassian Meadows. "When you're feeling stronger, we'll have to visit Pike's Lake then. I'm afraid most of the creeks around here are shallow or half dried from the summer's heat. A nice roll in the mud wouldn't hurt though, come to think of it."

Once again, Starscream's temper got the better of him. His words and misguided accusations were harsh enough that Hulia rolled in front of him, bellying up in submission to his bristling authority. Worse yet, his turbulent feelings left Scream without the courtesy of apologizing to the wolfess right away, and to adopting a slight tone to Kaina that was not really meant for her. "Humans? Are you positive?" His gaze was piercing when it turned back on the small she-wolf. It only lingered for a second or two though, as the alpha had to turn his head back and mind his steps when Hulia reached up to lick at his muzzle. The gesture seemed to get to him, because he closed his eyes for a moment huffed out a deep breath. "Okay.... okay." He gave the submissive Hulia a nudge and softened his tones, as if to make up some for his behavior. "Lets fan out and see if we can pick up on her scent again, or the dog's. If we can't find it, I have an idea of where she might be."

Kaina*Others

Not really keeping much attention on just where they were heading, the white wolfess plodded alongside the much younger fae, kept reasonably distracted by the casual conversation, and the lack of visible tension around her. If her nose had caught scent of the visitors in their territory, in the form of Crucifix and his party, her mind had not held onto the data long enough for it to apply any significance to their presence. Now when they actually left the bounds of Aspen Grove, it would probably occur to her to ask what was going on, but for now, she was content enough to stroll beside Darling and Cortinarri, unaware that they had basically assigned themselves to guard and aid her, in this situation. "That sounds like an excellent idea. I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I got out to the lake. I'm really a homebody at heart, you know... but it's nice to get out, every now and then." Of course, if her words in her more lucid moments were to be believed, Liseli's travels had taken her all over in the valley, in the time that her grief-stricken mind had forced her to wander, but like many of her memories, it was hard to nail down... sometimes she remembered that, and sometimes... she didn't.

In turn, Kaina lowered her ears a little at the sharper tone that Starscream took with her, not because she feared anything from him, but because it simply indicated respect and an understanding that his temper was not the best, at the moment. Still, as before, she did not cower before him or roll, showing that she had a stern set of mind and was not willing to be over-submissive when she felt the situation did not call for it. Part of that was simply her nature... and part of it was remembering that he had once complimented her on her balance of giving the submission that was required without falling all over herself to do so. She was not a timid sort, even in the face of his temper, and went on to answer his question calmly. "I am certain. The scent is not overly strong... either he lives near them at some distance, or he has not lived amongst them in some time, so the scent is faded... but it is present." She confirmed that quietly, and then was heartened when Hulia's attempt at sweetening Starscream's temper seemed to do the trick - his voice softened somewhat, and he seemed calmer as he altered the directions he was giving out. "If it pleases you, I will follow the human scent to its end... perhaps he has taken her to the humans. I would not enter their territory on my own, but it would help to know, at least, what general place this brute is from."