Right where I don't belong

At last, Sterling had arrived at the border of a pack she was not familiar with. She paced up and down the scented markings, emerald eyes sifting through the sights to behold. Willow trees with draping branches and thin tendrils provided good cover, something she found intriguing but also frustrating, as she could see very little, her vision blocked by the trees. She really hadn't known what to expect upon arriving here, hoping for an easy way to scope out the lands and return home with information that would be useful to her pack. Now that she was here, she wasn't sure how she was going to gather that information without getting caught or stirring up suspicion amongst the pack. Of course, she had long ago relieved herself of her pack scent; from the day she'd left home, she had rolled in wet grass, mud, bathed in the rivers, and once more covered her coat in a good layer of mud. Perhaps a little excessively, as was evident in the slick wet earth colouring her already gray coat, causing her fur to spike out in places. But at least the scent of Talis was no longer with her.

From the border, Sterling could smell water, and lots of it. Okay, so they had water. Probably a pretty valuable resource during the summer, but she wondered if that was a worry for her pack at all. After all, the lands surrounding their home were largely unoccupied, and there was much fresh water - they'd probably never have to worry about that. But still, it was something that she had discovered, something worth mentioning. However, she wanted to find out more. Was there prey worth fighting for? Or herbs for healing? That was what she really wanted to find out. And perhaps there was little right now, as the season was one of scarcity, but this place looked like it could be booming with prey when spring and summer came. In her homelands, they might be scarce on prey while this place was thriving. The girl nodded to herself, noting her observations.

She itched to enter the territory, to explore it more deeply, but she didn't dare set paw across the boundaries, knowing the consequences of doing so. She was still young and inexperienced, but she wasn't exactly stupid. A little brash, stubborn and headstrong? Yes. But certainly not stupid. Instead, she just continued to wander up and down the border, looking for anything different, anything of interest, and if she was lucky, she might run into somebody that would give her an idea of what the pack was like.