Shadow Star & Kennik

Kennik and Shadow traveled along the edge of the Sedge Creek, splashing through the cold waters as they unknowingly dove deeper into a freshly claimed territory. Both were relatively young and inexperienced, which might explain why both failed to pick up on Aizen's scent as the trotted through the land. It was Shadow who eventually slowed and came to a stop on a small sandbar in the middle of a wider section of the waterway, and plopped down next to a patch of lilies that were just beginning to emerge with the coming of spring.

Kennik sat down beside his gray-pelted companion, his own white pelt nearly matching now that it was soaked through with water and smudged with debris. "How far are we going to travel?" He questioned, orange eyes looking back to Shadow.

The other wolf shrugged as he leaned in to groom a patch of Kennik's fur, cleaning away the last remnants of blood that had stained his friend's soft, plushy coat. "We can rest here for a while at least. Who knows, maybe we can find food here? This creek's big enough to hold some decent sized fish I bet."

Aizen

In the middle of the night and with Momo help they had snuck away. Aizen left his sister with the youngsters to go and mark more of the territory when he heard the two. "You won't be traveling any further this way. Your on my land" he said coming out of the woods

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Kennik scrambled up in a heartbeat, the answer to Shadow's suggestion falling silent on his tongue as he turned to face the unknown brute. His first impression, other than Aizen's impressive size, was the limp that he moved with, brought on by having only three legs to travel with. The hybrid appeared to be old, too.

Orange eyes flashed questioningly to Shadow, who'd also raised himself up as the stranger strolled boldly from the woods. Regardless of Aizen's age and handicap, Shadow Star lowered his head, signaling that he didn't want any trouble, "I didn't realize we'd crossed any boarders, I'm sorry." He kept his tail low, "My friend Kennik and I mean no trouble. We're seeking a pack to join."

Slowly, Kennik lowered his head too, having no intentions of fighting this elder wolf.

Far removed from this encounter, Caritha was keeping his aunt busy by constantly straying from her sight as she explored all the new sights and scents around her.

Aizen

Aizen eyed them listening to them. Part ofh im wanted to scare them off due to not knowing them but..... They needed members.Well then if your gonna travel on my lands then I suppose you should join my packHe said. I am AizenHe said.

Cynical was spying on heer father from a bush.

Momo instructed Quinn to go find Cynical while she went after Caritha.

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

He continued to regard the other with uncertainty, holding his breath for a few spare seconds as the larger brute debated on how to handle the situation. When Aizen relented and offered them a home, Shadow released his breath in a quiet, thankful sigh and dipped his muzzle down, "Thank you." He let his tail hang a little looser, "My name's Shadow Star, son of Nhevaris and Arora. So.. how many are in your pack?"

Kennik had remained silent this whole time, mostly watching Aizen and letting his friend do the talking. A muffled crunch of leaves caught his attention, and he looked suddenly to the side, where he swore he'd heard the sound coming from a cluster of bushes. -Was the that a squirrel? Mhhhh, probably...-

Having lost track of her sister, Caritha too had begun to search for her... in the wrong direction. The youngster ended up traveling to the edge of a steep, mossy ravine. She peered over the edge, wide eyes gaping down at the twist of roots and tumbled rocks that lay at the bottom of the crevasse.

Aizen

He began to lead the two his ear twitching. "Myself, my sister, my niece and nephew and my two pups" he said. He stopped at the bush and lowered his muzzle when he lifted it he had cynical by her scruff.

Cynical went limp when picked up.

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Shadow Star gave Kennik a nudge before traveling forward and following after Aizen. He couldn't help but let his gaze wander to the canine's missing limb, and how well the old hybrid compensated for the lost appendage. Part of him wanted to ask what happened, but he knew better than to broach such a subject with a wolf he'd just met. Instead he followed dutifully, taking in the sights and sounds and listening to his new alpha speak.

A surprised smile creased Kennik's alabaster muzzle when Aizen lifted a pup, not a squirrel, from the nearby shrub. "One of... yours?" The slight pause in his question came when he realized that the youngster seemed to be missing not only a hind limb, but a tail as well. Had she been attacked by something at an early age?

Far removed from this, Caritha continued to linger at the edge of the steep, muddy dropoff. Her nose wiggled at the earthy scents that came to it, and for a moment her mind drifted from Cynical. She began to inch along the edge of the ravine, not realizing how unstable the moisture-laden soil was there until the ground suddenly gave beneath her paws. With a yelp of surprise, Caritha began to tumble and bounce down the fifteen-foot deep ravine, moss and dirt hailing after her.

Momo

Momo was rushing and aimed to grab Caritha by the scruff. Her own paws slipping and soon tumbling. All through this she made to shield her niece

Aizen held his daughter. "This is cynical" he said his ears twitched at the sound in the distance. He took off leaving cynical quickly with quinn

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Caritha's startled yelps rang out through the wooded terrain as she and her aunt went tumbling down the steep slope of mud. Thanks to Momo's quick actions in grabbing the youngster and shielding her, she avoided most of the bumps and bruises on the way down, but both would be plastered in mud, and the rocks at the bottom would not make for an easy landing.

Shadow and Kennik both started at the distant yelps, reacting with alarm to the sound of a distressed puppy. "I'll go with." Shadow said, mostly to Kennik before he bolted after Aizen.

Kennik remained behind, ears standing tall and brows pinched into a look of concern. He watched his friend until the budding shrubs and foliage engulfed the both of them and they were lost to sight. As the sound of snapping branches and crackling leaves faded into the distance, the alabaster wolf realized a little belatedly that he'd been left with an unknown female, and immediately gave his tail a sheepish wag and drew his ears back. "Oh... sorry, I didn't realize- um, I'm Kennik?"

Momo

Momo fell with her and would of kept her close to her body. When they hit the rocks below she was knocked uncouncous.

Aizen came to the ridge and he saw them barely but he saw them. He began pacing the ridge trying to find a way down.

Quinn was worried now .QuinnShe said as she grabbed cynical and began grooming her.

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Caritha blinked and shook her head, trying to clear the grime from her eyes. She was sore, but much better off than she would have been if not for her aunt's quick thinking in shielding her with her own body. "Momo?" Once her vision was cleared, she gave her aunt a nudge, and was alarmed when there was no response. The youngster shivered, both in fear and in cold as icy waters trickled past her paws. "Momo?" She nudged the wolf's still form again, a note of panic beginning to rise in her voice.

Far above, Shadow Star reached the edge of the ravine shortly after his new alpha, and peered down to see what they were dealing with. A quiet gasp took him when he saw Momo's form, appearing lifeless as it lay among the mud and scattered rocks, with a small rivulet of water running beneath her. "I wish Ataji was here..." He whispered to himself, having always relied on the wisdom of his brother to get him out of tough patches. But Ataji was miles away in the Sonnet Forest, and Momo and the pup needed help now. "There's got to be a gentler slope along the ravine somewhere, an easier way down." He proposed, and began to run along the edge of the steep drop-off, hoping to find another way down...

Unaware of what was transpiring, Kennik remained with Quinn and Cynical, his tail gently swaying. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Quinn. I'm excited to meet the rest of the pack, too." His orange gaze trailed to the pup, and he found himself staring at the youngster's missing tail and limb.

Aizen

His father would use this against him. That he wasn't cut out for this or something. He just nodded as he ran the opposite way.

Momo was breathing but uncouncious.

Quinn was a bit shy so she just nodded.

Cynical caught him staring and bared her little teeth.what you looking at punk?She said.

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

The ravine was a large one, but both wolves would find possible routes down as they raced along the opposite ends of the chasm. For Aizen, he'd find the walls of the ravine growing more shallow, until they reached a manageable six feet in depth and a slightly gentler slope - enough for a wolf to scramble down, if they were careful. Shadow's search lead him to a gentler slope as well, but it ran through a dense cluster of brambles, making it difficult for the wolf to pick his way through the plants as he tried to scale down the side.

"Daddy!" Caritha had howled out for her father when she saw him, but he soon disappeared from sight as he sprinted away. Whining, she turned back to Momo and nudged her again, then began to tug harshly on her aunt's ear, as if she'd be able to drag the much larger wolf out of the shallow waters.

Some distance away from this drama, Kennik was being caught off guard by the spicy little pup who'd caught him staring at her handicaps. His ears immediately melted back against his skull and he diverted his gaze to a cluster of shiny mayapples a few feet from them. "I'm sorry." He murmured quickly, and then in an attempt to patch over his faux pas, returned his gaze to the youngster, "I just- I've never seen a wolf with no tail. You must be a pretty strong pup, to survive without it." And to show that he meant this comment as praise, Kennik swished his tail behind him.

Quinn

She was watching and listening to the two before she heard aizen Howl. She stood up

Aizen sent up a howl just as he found a spot and careful maneuver down it. He made it to the two but he dyknow if he could move his sister

Momo was still out

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Not realizing there was a slightly easier way down, Shadow Star picked and toiled his way through the bramble patch until he'd made it to the bottom of the ravine, sans a few patches of loose winter fur. After giving a vigorous shake, the young wolf began to gallop down the narrow stream, splashing through water and mud, and doing a bit of fancy parkour paw-work to make his way through the challenging terrain. Eventually though, he caught up with Aizen and Momo, and approached with caution.

'She's alive.' He thought with relief upon seeing her sides rise and fall. "I can wait down here with her until she wakes up, if you want to take your child up? Or vice versa?" He offered, uncertain of how else to be helpful.

Caritha had stopped her futile tugging on her aunt's ear, and looked up at her father with wide, saddened eyes, "I-I thought Cynical was lost, I was t-trying to find her..."

Further from the ravine, Kennik cocked his head, listening to the howl. "Should.. we help?"

Aizen

He nodded to him before grabbing his daughter by the scruff and moving back the way he came and to Quinn he placed her down **stay with Quinn** he said. **Yes** he had caught his question before turning to race back to his sister

Shadow Star, Kennik, & Caritha

Shadow Star settled in beside the unconscious Momo and watched as his new alpha grabbed up a frightened Caritha and toted her back down and out of the ravine. As he waited for Aizen's return, Shadow found himself looking down to the wolfess beside him, where he gave her forehead and muzzle a few rough licks, trying to wake her up while also cleaning away a bit of the mud that had been smeared there during her tumble.

'Huh, that's odd... did she hurt her jaw?' This alarming thought came to him as he noticed a faint, peculiar twist to Momo's jaw. There was no obvious sign of blood coming from her mouth, at least not that he could see, but the sight did worry him and he tried more urgently to wake her up with fervent nudged to her nape and side.

Kennik, meanwhile, was anxiously awaiting word when Aizen came barreling through the brush, carrying Caritha with him. Without wasting his breath on speaking, he bolted after his alpha, looking to help in any way he was directed to.