there were not so many packs in this area. it stood out the most. wandering out of her swamp to nose about for some herbs, Huntington would keep a watch over the surrounding area quietly. to the west, she knew many dwelled. to the north, there was few. to the south, well, she would have to see for herself. it was where she lived. she had no plans to travel to Auster very soon though. the east was still a bit unknown as well, yet that would be rectified soon enough. the girl continued to search, aware of the pack scent of Abaven a few lands over. she had already visited and placed it out of her mind. though she did try to, the scent of a wolf from Abaven was fresh in the air. biting back a sigh, she would raise her head to stare around. the reeds and thick foliage obscured her sight. if another was obviously nearby, she did not see them right away. yet she did not call out for them either. her pale gaze merely watched, waiting, to see if they would speak or move on. she could work with either scenario. Huntington wondered what more she could learn about the pack; Noir had not been very informative, though she could hardly blame him. well, she could but she would not. "226/1500 words"

Poem wasn’t sure if she would ever feel happy again. Abaven was full of new puppies to play and make friends with, but all she wanted was to snuggle up next to her sister and mourne the passing of their aunt. Poem didn’t know Vail very well, but she was often her babysitter when she was much younger. It almost felt as though her own childhood died alongside the small albino woman. Her mother was a wreck, and her dad seemed to primarily think about how he was going to return Motif to them. Poem felt alone in the huge pack.

The girl made her way out of Abaven’s borders, with her first birthday right around the corner she had been allotted much more freedom. She couldn’t help but think it was because her parents were too distracted by finding her sister, and all she had to do was say she was looking for Motif if she were confronted. Poem didn’t admit it to herself but she was out looking for Tornadic. She hadn’t seen her friend since right after the forest fire and thought if she could find him again he might be able to talk her through the difficult emotions she felt.

Pale paws brought her forward near firefly lake, Edgar perched on her shoulder as she adopted a lazy, downtrodden pace. Ivory tail flicked at her hips as her ears lay back in defeat. She missed her sister, she missed her aunt, and she couldn’t even fend off her own brother. ”Poem, someone is nearby.” The raven spoke as he took to the wing to get a better vantage and maybe catch sight of the stranger. Edgar had to take care of his girl, he didn’t know what Shaye and Rhyme would do if anything happened to their other daughter.

He called out the signals and Poem looked in the direction of the wolf, ”Hello?” The young Destruction girl called out, at least maybe she could inquire after Motif. There wasn’t much chance of the stranger having seen her almost twin, but she had to ask. Even if it was small a chance was a chance.

wc:363

"hello..." Huntington called back, stepping into view. a young girl, almost a yearling, was glanced over quickly. there was a raven with her, yet that did not interest the witch. the pack scent did. like stated; she had not spoken much with Noir about Abaven. she felt she would push her luck with the boy; he did not seen keen about his place in the pack. but she wanted to know more. her head would tilt before looking past the pup and her familiar, toward where she knew Abaven's borders were. she walked a bit closer, her tail lowered and swaying in a forced-friendly manner. pale eyes looked at the girl again, forming a twinkle as she smiled. "oh, I knew it" she chuckled fondly "you are from Abaven" liar, she already knew that from the moment the scent hit the wind. Huntington would stop a good distance away from the other youth, to let her believe she was in control. "can you help me? I met another wolf from your pack, but he didn't want to answer my questions... I thought about joining Abaven, but I'd want to know more?" "780/1500 words"

Poem’s blue and lavender gaze shifted to the she wolf as she materialized before her and offered a quick greeting. The young Destruction took her in, her beautiful yet so familiar markings around her eyes. She sniffled discreetly, wondering if this was one of her estranged relatives. She tilted her head curiously, unable to make confirmation as Huntington continued. The girl’s eyes widened slightly as she was confronted with her origin. Yes, she was from Abaven, which on second thought must have been obvious even to this loner. At least Poem could tell she didn’t have any pack scent on her.

”I am.” She told her simply as Edgar’s suspicious gaze also looked over the she wolf. He wasn’t as trusting and looked to want to take flight at any moment. Poem, however, grew rather comfortable in the other girl’s presence. She wanted to talk about and maybe join Abaven, surely she couldn’t be bad. ”Sure I can!” She didn’t want to boast and say she had been training to be the heir, but she and her mother talked at length about Abaven, the only better wolf would have been either of her parents. Maybe Theo. ”What kind of questions did you have?”

wc:209

Luckily for her the girl seemed trusting enough to ‘help’ her. “well, my name is Rose” Huntington began the lie easily enough by now. Nobody seemed to be suspicious of her fake name and question her. She did notice her familiar didn’t seem as pleased, but she ignored the bird in favor of the wolf before her. “I’m a healer and sort of wandering for now. I was just curious about the packs here and finding one that would fit with me” she looked down sheepishly, making the girl believe she had no courage to actually trod up to a pack’s border to ask questions. When she had before, meeting Noir on Abaven’s actual border. That did not count though. She didn’t have a goal in mind. Right now, all the pale-faced girl wanted to do was gauge what each community was and how they could benefit her. “I sort of was hoping you’d tell me what your pack is about. Your customs, your goals… who’s the leader. That sort of thing?” ‘Rose’ shook her head, smiling behind her falseness. “of course, you don’t have to say anything personal. I don’t expect you to spill secrets. Just, uh, what you can. That’d be appreciated, thank you!” she did a little bounce, her eagerness showing to the girl. Make her really believe that’s all she wanted from her. "1216/1500 words"

Poem was feeling pretty good talking about everything that wasn’t her sister or the mess she felt like. She was distracted, letting herself immerse into the conversation of her home pack. Blue and lavender gaze watched the stranger, the older girl was pretty and seemed so nice. She wasn’t sure why Edgar was so nervous around her, but she shrugged him off as he didn’t say anything. ”Rose, that’s a lovely name.” She murmured softly as Huntington went on boldly. Poem perked her ears and listened intently.

”Abaven has had a lot of really good healers,” she didn’t know if she should mention one of their more experienced healers had recently died. She hoped that might help sway the prospective member to her cause. ”Shaye is the main alpha with Rhyme as her secondary.” She decided to make her speech as impersonal as possible. If the girl called ‘rose’ joined she might get a pleasant surprise when she found out the wolf she spoke to was the alpha’s offspring. ”Abaven encourages self-sufficiency within the pack but will stand up to protect and provide for those less fortunate when were needed.”

Poem loved Abaven, and as she grew she came to admire its ideals. However she doubted her ability to live up to them more and more now that her birthday was approaching. ”It’s mostly made up of my family members, the Destructions.” Having such a disaster of a last name was a little confusing for her when she was younger, but she liked it more and more these days. ”What kind of pack are you looking for, Rose?” She asked curiously as she debated how much her mom would let her say about Abaven and its inner workings.

wc:300

'Rose' would nod her head along with the other's words. so Abaven was self-sufficient but one of those goody-two-shoes packs. she resisted a disappointing sigh despite the wonder on her outward features. Shaye and Rhyme were the leaders of Abaven, and it was chalked full of wolves that had the surname Destruction. when it came back to a question to her, the girl tilted her head slightly with a frown. "somewhere I can grow and learn" though it would be pleasant enough to settle within an unsuspecting community and learn more... Huntington did not seem to think she needed anyone else. 'Rose' could put on a nice tune to dance to, but deep down her malicious intentions paused her. she just needed to watch, and wait, for opportunities. even she had no clue what she wanted or planned for. "somewhere I can have lots of friends and maybe even more someday" she added in shyly with a soft chuckle. "I want to learn about being a competent healer, so I'm just going around, helping wolves I find that need it." which was, for the most part, true. but she knew better than to commit to Abaven. she had spoken to a child on the border with another wolf watching. they knew what she looked like. they knew she had been there before. all it took was some gossip, harmless, and her whole charade fell through the cracks. "but I should go around asking more people before saying yes, I hope you understand" 'Rose' didn't want to insult the girl; she appreciated her words and sticking around to chat about it. "1500/1500 words"