Aakari & Sweetclover

There seemed to be an added sense of purpose and pride to Aakari's steps as she crossed over the invisible boundary that marked the edges of her territory. Even her voice, as she tilted her muzzle skyward and sang to the heavens above, held an extra note of power to it today. It was something that Sweetclover took note of as she perked her ears and drew her head away from foxberry shrub she was snacking on. Licking away some of the sweet red juice from her jaw, Clover turned her maw skyward and uttered a call of her own, letting her granddaughter know of her location.

Aakari adjusted course, leading Dovah deeper into the forested terrain. A few calls back and forth - facilitating the need to stop and set down her fish every time - eventually united the pair along the banks of a wide, lazy creek where the grandmother had been getting her fill of the late-seasoned berries. The two looked remarkably similar, being primarily white-coated with black patches along their backs, and baring pale yellow eyes. The main difference was fact that Sweetclover possessed a gray tail, where her granddaughter's was pure white.

Upon finding Clover, Aakari offered a muffled woof in greeting, to which Sweetclover padded forward with a gently swaying tail. The pair nuzzled one another before Aakari dropped the fish and took a step back, nodding her mug to the fellow that she'd led into their lands. "Grandma, this is Dovahkiln. Dovah, this is Sweetclover."

The aged wolf smiled and bowed her head, tail wagging even more. "Dovah it is? Welcome to the Silver Glades pack."

Dovahkiin

There's no denying that Dovah is anxious.. But it's a joyous sort of nerves -- the kind mixed with adrenaline, coursing through his blood and making his steps light with spirit. As a loner, Dovah's strayed away from the boarders of the packlands. No wolf in their right mind messes with a pack -- and, with that, Dovah realizes how much of the valley he's failed to see. Honey-golden eyes survey the damp territory which Aakari hails as home. Large paws shift in the damp mud as she leads him over the wetlands, deep into the forestry of the packland.

Dovah bounds beside Aakari as they beeline for Sweetclover's location. Ears pricked with alertness, he stutters to a stop beside the she-wolf as they rendezvous with the older female. "Hello," Dovah greets with a gentle wag of his tail. He drops the second fish at the side of Aakari's catch, nudging it forward towards the aging she-wolf. "Your granddaughter has spoken highly of you."

Aakari & Sweetclover

The scent of the fish causes the old wolf's mouth to water and her stomach to growl impatiently. As good as the berries were, nothing could match fresh meat, even if it was of the ocean variety that she wasn't familiar with. Her eyes glistened merrily, following Dovah's fish to the ground, and then jumping back to the brute as she hummed an amused note, "Mmmm, has she now?" Aakari was in her sights next, scowling slightly as if to brush off Dovah's comment. Sweetclover chuckled however, seeing through her granddaughter's tough exterior, "She's not so bad herself, once you get to know her."

Aakari held back a sigh at that one, and instead got straight to business, "He's our new alpha, grandma. And it's just as well, I've been hearing more chatter in the Valley lately - the packs are growing again, so we'll need to be strong to hold our land." Still smiling softly, Sweetclover barely raised an eye when Dovah's position was brought up. She'd half expected that, and for Aakari to have given him that rank told her a lot about the brute already. "Dovah's also taught me how to fish the ocean."

Clover's eyes crinkled again in a wordless smile, "Thank you both for this meal - I think it'll fill my belly quite well." The elder wolfdog resisted the tempting meat though, not wanting to be rude in front of a new packmate. Instead, she sat back on her haunches and spoke, "Tell me about yourself, Dovahkiln. Where do you come from? Any family around the Valley?"

Dovahkiin

The brute chuckles despite himself at the exchange between the alphess and her grandmother. Eyes dart between the exasperated Aakari and the content Sweetclover, his tail swaying gently alongside his hind legs. "She's pleasant, and I'm not just saying that because she can kick me off this territory," Dovah kindly defends, blinking his brown eyes over to Aakari. His eyes gleam as he rivets his attention back to Sweetclover. He's quiet and courteous, still keeping his so-called position on the fringes of thought and maintaining respect towards both Aakari and Sweetclover. His ears twitch a bit at the mention of the growing packs in the Valley. If he wasn't mistaken, perhaps Sweetclover had been witness to the heightened tensions that once ravaged this Valley. Now it's just tales that aging lone wolf's with half-starved brains ramble about. Dovah knew very little -- but the long-time inhabitants of this Valley spoke the myth into a large beast of a war.

"Me?" Dovah blinks as Sweetclover suddenly pries into his existence. The gray brute shifts, shoulders rolling as his head turns to gaze off into the distance of the wetland. He had traveled a whole spring before he came across this valley. Once he found it, he never felt like leaving. Prey was abundant. Humans weren't too populous. And he enjoyed the views. "I'm not from here...I came a long trek from the northern tundra," he explains with a soft wisp of nostalgia. In all reality, while he did miss his family and his puphood home, Dovah had left for a better life. Home had been boring, and Dovah was always plagued by a simple itch to find something else. "I left at the end of two winters ago. Decided to find something else...and eventually, I found the Valley." He grins a bit, cocking his head to look at Aakari. "Took me another year to find a wolf crazy enough to want me to be part of her pack."

Aakari & Sweetclover

Aakari darted a wry smile to her new partner for his compliment, while the murmur of a chuckle could be heard from Sweetclover before she commented, "Ah, so she's been on her best behavior. That's good." This earns an indignant snort from the younger of the two faes, who was quick to remark, "An alpha is always on her best behavior, mother. Anyway-" The apparent annoyance in Aakari was only superficial, with both wolves holding a clear love between one another, despite the verbal pecking. Tilting her muzzle back to Dova, she nodded and confirmed his tale, "He's a traveler, from beyond the mountains."

Sweetclover's expression became one of curiosity. "From the northern tundra, you say? You'll have to regale us with those tales sometime. Neither of us have been past the bordering mountains, and my mother rarely spoke of her time before the Valley." Her eyes, still keen and vibrant despite her years, roved upwards towards the trees that surrounded them, "The Silver Glades is quite the far cry from the open tundra - have you experience hunting in forests?" The fact that he'd been on his own for two years and looked to be in excellent condition told her that he was a successful hunter in his own right, a creative enough to find resources in unique places, as the fish at her feet revealed.

Dovah got another one of those wry looks from Aakari, but it was followed promptly by a rough nudge of her muzzle against his as she sat down beside him. The alpha was a little rough in the socializing department, but the soft sigh she exhaled as she settled next to Dovahkiln was as content as a kitten's purr.

Dovahkiin

The gentle squabble between the two family members elicits a low chuckle from the brute's chest. He likes Sweetclover's snark responses, her words causing Aakari to bristle but only in the way an annoyed family member would. It exposes Aakari a bit, rattles up her tough exterior. Dovah hides his grin as Aakari resigns next to him, knowing it was best not to ruffle her fur as well. "Hold me to it," Dovah tells Sweetclover, his mind racing to consider any interesting story he could amuse the faes with. In all honestly, tundra life was more boring than it was interesting but Dovah considers the first moose he encountered or the mother polar bear and her cubs. The tip of his tail twitches a bit as he tucks those stories into the back of his mind.

He addresses Sweetclover's next question, a slight wave of humility washing over him as he considers his status. Nature had been kind to the gray wolf over the previous two years. Mixed with his own drive, Dovah had managed well on his own, to say the least. "Now I do," he admits with a sheepish laugh, "It was a lot different that the tundra prairies I was used to, but I made myself adapt. Hiding behind trees and vegetation is actually a lot easier once you grow accustomed to it, and stop running through thorn bushes by accident!" His honey brown eyes gleam for a moment, his gaze riveting over towards Aakari in a meek, inaudible way to observe if she approved of him. If he was doing alright with both her and Sweetclover.

Aakari & Sweetclover

Sweetclover's nose crinkles as she chuckles, accompanied by a knowing nod, "Getting to know the plants is just as important as knowing the prey. After all, running through a patch of burdock will earn you at least an hour's worth of grooming to get rid of the burs." They way she turned her eyes to Aakari, one white brow lifted ever so subtly, suggested her granddaughter had experience in this mishap. She earned a huff from the younger female and an eye roll so heard she was sure Aakari had seen the inside of her own head. Ending her chuckle, Sweetclover added, "There's also a good harvest of berries and fruits to supplement a hungry belly, if one knows where and when to look. Aakari, why don't you show Dovah around? I will catch up after I've finished my meal."

Aakari was more than happy to take up her mother's suggestion, and rose from her haunches with a stretch. "You eat your fish, and we'll meet back up at the buffalo rock rendezvous." She turned, thumping her tail against Dovah's shoulder before taking a few steps towards a row of tall pines edging the clearing they were in. Her next words were for her new partner, "There's some pretty good ravines that can be good help when it comes to hunting..." The alphess paused, nose twitching as a curious scent came to her and stalled her comments. Her head tilted a little and she glanced back at Dovah before sprinting away into the forest.

Dovahkiin

Eyes gleam as he catches a chuckle in his throat, enjoying the gentle quips Sweetclover dishes out towards her granddaughter. His head cocks as he speculates her misfortune with the burdock bush, recognizing that Aakari wasn't always the tentative, calm alphess that she is today. She, too, had once been a precocious yearling with a lack of coordination and experience. When hearing Sweetclover's suggestion, his tail sashays a bit with anticipation. He'd only observed the lands as they trekked here from the ocean, and couldn't deny his eagerness to explore further. Giving a body a firm shake, as if to prepare himself for the physical activity, Dovah turns his eyes to Sweetclover, "Stay out of trouble?" He suggests, eyes bright with humor.

The brute glances over at Aakari with a bustle of excitement, not anticipating her sudden dash into the forestry. "Oh!" The word escapes his mouth. Dovah gives a little laugh of surprise, blinking before his brain finally processes and sends his body propelling after the she-wolf. Large paws skitter across the cool forest floor, the brute dancing around vegetation carefully as not to fall victim to his previous mistakes so soon after mentioning it. It takes a moment before Dovah catches sight of Aakari's fur dashing through the forest. He leans into his stride, sprinting forward to catch up to the swift-footed alphess. His tongue lolls at the side of his mouth, Dovah panting joyously as he follows Aakari's lead.

Aakari & Sweetclover

Sweetclover's eyes twinkle back at Dovah, finding already that she liked this fellow. "Do your best, Dovah." Of course, with Aakari at the helm of today's exploration through the Silver Glades, Clover couldn't imagine her granddaughter leading them into any sort of trouble. Then again, Sweetclover was young once, and remembered how she too let her serious side take a backseat to more playful, carefree emotions when she first met Taiser. The elder wolf smiled to herself as she reminisced on these things, and watched the pair until Dovah's tail disappeared between the thick branches of the pine trees.

Aakari had put distance between herself and the small clearing, her paws carrying her with swiftness and certainty through the myriad of tall pines and browning plant life that made up the bulk of their territory. It was her nose that guided her now, following a curious scent that eventually brought the pair to a cluster of massive boulders, from which a small spring bubbled at their base. Several animal trails converged at this eternal drinking pool, but it wasn't the crystal clear water that Aakari had been intrigued by.

"Do you smell that?" Nose to the ground, Aakari glanced to her partner before circling around the boulders, tail high and nose crinkling every now and then. There was a lingering scent of cloves and lavender in the air.

Dovahkiin

Rapid, excited breaths echo in Dovah's ears as he plunges into the undergrowth, skittering across the fallen pine needles and discarded deciduous leaves. With Aakari leading the way, the brute is able to expend part of his brain on marveling at the territory. Deep honey-colored orbs trace themselves along the vegetation they fleet past, curious nose trying to draw in every scent that passes through. He falls to a halt when Aakari brings them to the set of boulders in the midst of the territory, wordlessly scanning the forestry around them. His nose twitches as he blinks in Aakari's direction, unsure which exact scent she was interested in. She paces to the other side of the boulders, Dovah remaining in his position until she circles back around. "Not to make you uncertain about my scenting abilities...but you're going to have to be more specific," Dovah muses with a chuckle, squinting has his nose crinkles. More definitely he adds, "But, my best guess is that you're not interested in making the nearby chipmunks a meal....so that's off my list."

Aakari

She pauses in her circuit of the natural spring, one ear cocked briefly towards the sound of the burbling liquid as it traveled from the icy-cold pool to the pebble lined creek that would carry it away. Cool yellow eyes shift from the trampled ground and lift up to her mate, a small if not distracted grin playing across her alabaster muzzle. "To be fair, it was only a brief whiff I caught." Her nose was still down, nostrils twitching as she tried to recover the elusive odor. "It smells... like a flower, almost, but too pungent." Frustration causes a delay in her response to Dovah's last comment, but after a few belated moments, Aakari glances again at her partner, "Chipmunks? Haven't bothered with those since I was an adolescent. Unless they're..."

The wolfess trailed off in her semi-serious response to his jest, her gaze honed in on a strange object just across the way. She shared a wordless, quizzical glance with Dovah before springing past him and approaching an odd looking rock stacked with several others against the base of an old pine tree. There was an odd, circular center to the big rock, dark and shiny, almost like the wide eye of a deer or moose. The sheer oddity of it had piqued Aakari's curiosity... and her natural suspicion. "Dovah, come look."

Dovahkiin

A sheepish smile passes across the brute's muzzle as he simply watches Aakari scrutinize the area. Tilting his own muzzle up towards the skies, Dovah tentatively sniffs to uncover what exactly Aakari honed in on. It's seemingly more difficult considering the smell of pine and the damp forest floor clouds his senses, commonplace scents that are new to him still. But suddenly he catches the scent Aakari mentions, his nostrils tingling enough that Dovah scrunches his face. Not even the fields of flowers in the valley smelled that strong. The dainty breeze shifts again, and Dovah loses it just as quickly as he found it. A perplexed furrow grows across his forehead. "That's...strange," he murmurs, brown eyes gazing distantly off into the forest.

His thoughts are rattled back to earth as Aakari suddenly springs forward. Gray shoulders flinch as Dovah pivots and lopes behind Aakari. He squints at the random array of stones, a little growl, more of bafflement than aggressive, rattles in his throat. "Now, that's not something you see every day," Dovah says, glancing from the rocks to Aakari, "I'm guessing that's not a normal piece of the territory."

Aakari

A low growl plays through her throat, joining the crick she currently carries in her fluffy white tail as a sign of her distrust of the situation. "No, the rocks weren't piled like this before." She confirms, with that rumble still edging her words, "And this one in the center, I've not seen anything like it before... it's not a normal rock, if that's even what it is." She couldn't quite fathom what else it might be, but that glossy circle seemed sorely out of place. She glanced questioningly to her mate then, "Have you seen anything like this in your travels?" Little did the wolfess know that this little 'eye' was currently taking a series of pictures of her and her new mate, aided in its placement by the collar she wore, informing the biologist of the various hotspots in the territory.

Dovahkiin

The brute strides forward towards the strange construct, the hair along the back of his neck prickling, but the strong ebb of curiosity directing his paws. He manages to creep within inches of the camera, wet nose extending to gentle poke the glassy lens. "Never like this...the glassy eye looks familiar, but it was always tacked high up along a tree trunk. Some weird human thing..." Dovah explains gently to Aakari, speaking softly as if the glassy eye could transmit their secrets. Unlike the other glassy eyes, this one didn't flash with light when he approached it. Was this one safer than the previous hunting cameras he had stumbled upon? Or was this glassy eye dangerous because of its lack of light?

Brown eyes flit back over to Aakari as the alpha's shoulders slump a bit like a shrug. If there's one thing Dovah's learned in his travels, is usually humans are more curious than malicious. And this seems like one of those times. "They've never proved to be dangerous...," Dovah attempts to reassure Aakari, "I'm sure it's just another silly thing from humans that we'll never understand."

Aakari

Her stance remains rigid as she watches her partner investigate the out-of-place rock, poking it once with his nose, so that a wet print is briefly left glistening on its surface. It would provide an amusing shot for the biologists later, but for Aakari, this intrusion didn't sit well. "Hmmn." Her breathy grunt had lost its growl at least, for she did take some solace in Dovah's wisdom and calmer approach to the bizarre rock. "They are odd creatures. Clover has told me stories about them... strange ones she learned from her own parents." She paused, as if about to delve into one of those old tales that seemed to support, at least in some versions, Dovah's view of the two-leggers.

Aakari shook her head, feeling the weight of the tracking collar that was nearly engulfed by the thick mantle of winter fur that surrounded her neck and throat. Reminded of her last encounter with the biologists, the shewolf lifted her head and stepped briskly forward, "Curious or not, lets hope they get this message." So saying, she turned about and marked the rock, leaving her scent for the humans, and what was suppose to be a warning for them. What she didn't know was how poor their sniffers were, but she felt better for it at least, and with her confidence boosted, Aakari loosened her tail and nodded to Dovah, "Now that that's taken care of.. this here is a good spot to catch smaller game. This pool never runs dry, though sometimes you have to break the ice in winter."

Dovahkiin

The brute intently watches Aakari maneuver herself around the assembly of rocks left by the humans. Paws shift on the cold ground as he allows room for Aakari to inspect it, chuckling softly as she marks it. While he knows just as little about the attributes of the two-legged kind, he does know humans tend to pay very little regard to the attempts of wildlife to stake their territory and boundaries -- the collar on Aakari's neck pays tribute to that fact. But she's bold and protective of her home, and Dovah respects that. "Remind me to add that to the list of stories Clover has to tell me," Dovah suggests with a soft wag of his tail.

Lifting his nose to the air, Dovah takes a deep breath of the chilled winter air. A frigid breeze waifts through the forest floor, rustling leafless branches of the bushes and whispering through the evergreen branches. Dovah pivots his attention back to Aakari, brown eyes squinting a bit as glances down at the pool. While it hasn't been abhorrently cold for long, there's a thin layer of ice across the surface of the water. It's not enough to sustain Dovah's weight, but would be easy enough to crack near the edges of the pool and test his luck there. "While fish certainly is a specialty of mine," Dovah humorously mentions with a pleasant chuckle, "I can hunt the land-dwelling as well." A maniac smile crosses his lips before Dovah steps towards the pool, fracturing the ice with his paws. While the motion would momentarily frighten the small fish that dwelled near the edge of the pool, the forgetful fish would soon return and, ideally, flit under the now-exposed surface of the pool.

Aakari

Aakari finds herself turning her pale yellow eyes back on the pile of rocks, as if expecting a human to pop out from behind the tree, or for the rock to do something sinister. But the stones remain motionless, quietly recording the interaction of the new alpha pair, and signaling the resurgence of canids in the Valley. "Hmmnh." A small huff leaves her before the wolfess shifts her attention back to Dovah, "She'll keep you entertain for hours, no doubt. Her father was actually a captive to the humans for some time, and her mother... she was a wild one, Aaka. I was named after her, sort of." Rather than delving into any of those tales though, Aakari was circling out further from the spring, nose to the ground and tail arched in the air.

She glanced at her partner again when he affirmed his ability to hunt four-legged creatures, and the alphess actually gave a wry grin and a chuckle, "Lets put those skills to the test, then. I'll show you some of our choice hunting grounds in the Glades. Ever tried a moose?" There was a light of excitement in her bright eyes as she offered this challenge, and her tail almost looked to break into a wag. Aakari nodded her head roughly in a different direction, "Follow me." Pushing her giant paws against snow-laden ground, Aakari bounded forward, dropping quickly into a fast-paced lope to lead her companion deeper into the heart of the Silver Glades.