The Archer-Lyall couldn’t have thought of anyone better to ask to join her on this trip (she knew better than to wander off on her own now). Magnus had proven himself to be handy in a fight, and he was easy company to boot. She’d allowed herself to remain ignorant for far too long. It was time to scope out the neighbours, regardless of her still healing wounds and inability to sleep, well there was no point holding off, maybe the exercise would do her good and she would find a new rhythm.

The moon was fat in the sky overhead, a gentle ocean breeze tousled her monochrome fur and the scent of summer flowers swirled around them. Of course, the unmistakable scent of a nearby pack was also on the breeze, keeping their current task close to the forefront of her mind. But she almost felt herself again, refreshed despite the journey to get this far. A smirk crept across her face, silver eyes glinting playfully in the moonlight. She stepped closer to bump shoulders with her companion. "Aww Maggie, ‘s almost romantic," she teased, ignoring the butterflies that had taken up residence in her stomach when she dared to open her mouth. Stupid, yer shouldn’ ‘ave said that. They were here to work.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

He'd agreed to go on this mission with Sedna for a few reasons. One, he didn't really feel comfortable letting her go alone after all the injuries she sustained not only during the cougar fight, but also the ones she'd already had. Two, because he also felt the need to get out of the Armada and gather some kind of intel on a nearby pack for Sirius. As soon as Sedna had mentioned it to him, he thought of what good it would bring him in the long run. He'd never heard of Sirius suggesting others go out and gather intel, but what harm could it do? It was late at night and for all intents and purposes they could be out on a late midnight walk on the beach. It was a beautiful night, anyway.

Their travels had been mostly quiet until Sedna spoke, and it brought a smile and a soft laugh up. The nickname wasn't something he was fond of, but he'd heard it more lately than in his earlier years and he was starting to get a bit used to it. It wasn't his favorite though, but he hardly showed any distaste for it. "It's a good night to walk on the beach. I bet no one will know we're here to scope anyone out; they'll probably think we're up to something else." He teased with a wink and a smile.

The updraft of the wind along the edge of the cliff gave the nearing plummet away, the tangy scent of salt water on the breeze and the distant crash of waves proving they weren’t far off. She tried to ignore the way her face was burning beneath her fur but his reply was more positive than she thought it would be and she let a giggle loose in response, her tail waving playfully at her back as she turned to look up at him with a wide smile on her face. Her voice dipped conspiratorially, a playful light dancing in her eyes, "Then I better not blow our cover." She took her chance to lift her front paws off the ground and plant a sneaky kiss on his cheek before bounding a few steps ahead. She was sure there had to be a way down to the beach, they’d just have to find it.

With the moon illuminating the white stone cliffs, the shadows of the path stood out plainly. This was their way down, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a moment to enjoy the view.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

She must have been feeling a certain way tonight, Magnus could sense it. She was acting different than before, all playful and childlike now when before she was more serious. Not that he minded of course, he enjoyed a good laugh and play. Though it was when she reached up and left a kiss on his cheek that he stopped in his tracks for a moment, a bit shocked by the notion but quickly regained his composure and smirked, bounding off after her until he also saw the path that would lead them down to the beach.

It was a nice night, the sky full of stars and them and the moon reflecting off the ocean waves almost perfectly. From here he could see the waves crashing on the beach all the way out until the horizon, making for a beautiful view. Of course he'd seen a similar view back at the Armada, but they didn't have anywhere to view it from a height like here did. It would make for a great spot to lookout too, though it didn't give them much of a view of the pack they were looking for.

"We should hurry, though." He didn't want to get caught snooping around, so the sooner they got there the sooner they could leave and get back safe without issues.

Narrowing her eyes, she could just make out an island out in the bay. This might have been better served as a daytime mission, maybe then she could convince Chips to fly out and check the place out. Ibis weren’t an uncommon sight along the coast line, and who would ever suspect such an ugly animal to be a wolf’s companion?

It didn’t take Magnus long to catch up at all. If she noticed the way he had stopped, she didn’t comment on it, but did chuckle when he mentioned hurrying. If they carried on enough like a pair of moonstruck fools that had snuck off for some sort of tryst only perverts would hang around, and would they really want to tell anyone they’d been spying on canoodling couples at the beach? "Anyone’d think yer were worried about a wife catchin’ yer," She teased as she stepped onto the moonlit goat track that would lead to the beach, using her tail to smack the underside of his chin. As best she could tell, there were pack lands to the north and south of them, but was it the same pack? And what sort numbers were they looking at? Rocks skittered under her paws and slid off the edge of the white cliff, but her footing was sure. They’d be on the sand in no time at all.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

His companions were definitely ones you didn't see on a beach and although they were near by, scouting to make sure no one was sneaking up on them, they were definitely a little suspicious this far from their natural habitat. Perhaps had he been smart and gotten at least one that flies, then maybe he too could have his fly off ahead and scout for them, but there was something about having other, lesser canine companions that made him feel a little more comfortable. Of course, they hardly got along, but they worked well together when he needed them too.

Sedna's comment made him laugh, but it really just brought up more thoughts of Deathbelle and what she thought of him. Did she even know he was back? If she had, she was definitely mad at him. If she didn't, well, he could only hope that she'd forgive his stupidity. He'd have a lot of making up to do if she gave him the chance, but he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that suggested she wouldn't. "Wife? Nah, I'm worried about this pack!" He laughed, taken aback then by her tail catching him on the chin. He was half tempted to bite at it, to grab it as a playful warning, but instead he just followed inline behind her.

"Do we know anything about this pack, anyway?" He asked, wondering if they would be able to bring back any good info for Sirius.

Sedna snickered at his response, "Aww, don’ worry, I’ll keep yer safe from th’ big bad pack wolves," she teased, stepping over a gap where the path fell away, "Watch yer step..." While pack wolves were a worry, the cliffs were neutral ground yet, and she was very good at playing dumb when it was called for, "Worst case, we can just offer ter let ‘em join in,” she suggested slyly, “That’s usually enough ter scare the ones likely ter give us away off," she added as her feet finally found the sand at the bottom of the narrow beach. Now the only worry was getting hemmed in. This certainly might be a good angle for a small scouting team, but it’d be a shitful location to stage a raid from.

The silver woman stepped in close to Magnus’s side, using the close angle to look up at him like a lovestruck young girl and dropped her voice to make it look like she whispering sweet nothings in his ear, the smile on her face hiding the seriousness of her muted suggestion. "Hana’s the diplomat, I reckon we check in with ‘er when we get back an’ see what she has to say." The Archer-Lyall took the opportunity to briefly nip the underside of his jaw before prancing ahead to the water, allowing it to lap over her toes, using the cover of the movement to see what scents the breeze would bring her over the ocean. There was something odd about the two borders to north and south not touching and she wanted to puzzle it out. She meant it when she said she wasn’t going to blow their cover, and kept her tail waving lazily at her spine, looking back over her shoulder to see if he would follow, or if he was going to make her chase him for once.

"speech".

we wear red so they don’t see us bleed

The cliffs may be neutral ground, and maybe he was just feeling a bit nervous since he knew what they were doing, but he couldn't help but worry. He didn't know a thing about this pack that they were scouting out, all he knew was that they were a bit north and to the east, and could possibly be good to raid one day. Sirius was always looking for details about the other packs, and while he was sure Hanako was doing her job greatly, there was only so much information you could ask for. Snooping and spying about the pack would get them a bit more information, like how many they regularly had scouting at night and so forth. In fact, it was those scouts that had him worried. While they weren't particularly close right now, if they got any closer, he worried that they'd get questioned. He wasn't the kind to blow their cover, and he trusted Sedna, but he worried nonetheless. The least amount of bumps he had to pass over, the better.

He was careful taking the steps down to the beach and was almost thankful to feel the sand between his toes. It reminded him vaguely of the bachelor party he'd stumbled upon and barely could remember the events of the night. Waking up for his duties the next day was probably one of the hardest things he'd ever done and he hardly had any plan to do it again.

He smirked at her joke though and pushed his current thoughts away to focus on their task. He leaned into her a bit when she spoke quietly to him, though he couldn't say he was as good as an actor as her. Was she acting, though? Maybe not. Another thing he pushed to the back of his mind while he tried to focus.

When she mentioned talking to Hanako, he wondered if it would have been better just to let her know they were going before so they knew what they needed to look out for or anything she specifically wanted dealt with.