Kaija was glad they didn't encounter any bears on their way out of the cave. At the last moment she decided to grab another mushroom - so she'd have one for her mom and her siblings. Maybe they could cut it in half and share it. Kaija decided she'd figure that out later. She traveled carefully with her mushroom-capped tusks, not wanting to smack them on anything and ruin them any more than the holes she'd prodded through them to carry them. They got lost more than once on their way out, but Sparrow seemed to know where she was going a little bit so Kaija let her lead the way. She was an adult so she must have some experience, at least that was what Kaija assumed.

Together they traveled back home. Once she found her bearings it was easy enough to navigate them back to Valhalla's borders. She didn't really know why Sparrow was coming with her though. Maybe she just wanted to make sure she got home okay? Kaija didn't really know, and certainly didn't think she needed any help just walking but she liked her company anyway. By the time they arrived she was tired and let out a little yawn, twisting around to face Sparrow as they neared the borders. "Okay, this is home," she stated, letting out a little howl to see if anyone would come to see what cool gifts she'd found.

They came to the pack lands and Sparrow's first impression? Flat. She didn't really see any trees or anything here and the snow had tamped down any grass that would have been there. The pup stopped and announced that this was, in fact, home. She even let out a little howl. They waited a moment and it didn't seem like anyone came right away. Sparrow leaned down and nudged the pup, "Let's see if I can get them here a little faster." She let out her own howl which didn't really give away any information other than she was here. Hopefully someone would put two and two together and head on over because with the flat expanse of snow and what used to be grass before her, she was already getting bored.

Aurielle Adravendi

She’d already been on her way toward the call, traveling on the inner side of the wall out of sight of outside eyes. The Spirit arrived just as the unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke and added her own howl of summons. Before she stepped around the corner, she cast a glance over the plains and the distant hillock. “You called?” Her tone was bland and crisp with dry amusement as she looked over the woman before turning her eyes to Kaija, head cocking. “Kaija. Out on an adventure, were you? I see you’re making good on trying out toxins on your tusks.” Her tone shifted, half stern, half indiscernible, but not unkind as she spoke to the child, letting the girl know she was at least partly in trouble for leaving the borders. She studied the girl closely, but there were no signs that the child had ingested any of the mushrooms. “Did you ask your mother if you could go?” Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Sparrow let out a call of her own and thankfully Aurielle didn't take long to show up. Kaija wasn't sure how long she could sit here looking like a doofus before she got bored and left Sparrow at the border. She found herself beaming over at Aurielle as she strode up, looking as proud as ever of what she'd found. They were so cool, even if they were.. toxins? Were they really poisonous? Aurielle was old (but not as old as her mom, she didn't think) so surely she knew better about - well, everything. Her eyes widened with surprise at the thought.

"Yeah, I went to find a gift for my mom. And... for you!" She scrambled quickly, trying to cover her ass. She noted that there was a bit of seriousness to Aurielle's tone that reminded her of her mom's tone sometimes. Sweet talking sometimes helped, even if it meant she was fibbing a bit. She lifted a paw to bat at the mushroom on one of her tusks, popping it off and letting it roll on the ground, batting it toward her. "It's pretty! I didn't eat one or anything, I swear. I was more afraid of-" Her voice cut off sharply.

Mushroom-loving cave bears. She wanted to say it but it sounded stupid in her head, especially when Aurielle asked if her mother had given her permission to go out. "I did! She said - well, I think she said yes. It sounded kind of like yes at least. A little grunt. Like this," she tried to mirror a dismissive sound that Justice might make, but it sounded more like a fart than any kind of agreement. She grimaced a little at her impression and glanced hurriedly over at Sparrow as if this near-stranger might help back her up. She was cool, after all! She'd made sure no bears attacked them and that was pretty cool in Kaija's book.

Sparrow expected... well she wasn't sure what she expected really. Every alpha had been wildly different so far. One was as red as infected sunburn, some were friendly while others were stoic and others were deemably assholes. While the range of what could have showed up was pretty vast, when Sparrow first laid her eyes on the woman, she was pretty sure it was a small pony. It wasn't hard to see her across the flatness of the plains which still had their grass tamped down by snow. Sparrow wondered what kind of prey could even live here without being seen. Although it wasn't as bland and barren as the sparse pines, she thought.

The woman trotted up and Sparrow wondered in all earnest if a horst could fuck a wolf or vice versa and make... this thing. Though, she supposed she had cat claws and from what she knew, her father hadn't gotten frisky with any felines. And this girl had tusks, but she doubted the young girl was of any relation to a wild hog. The woman greeted Kaija and the pup gave and explanation as to where she had been, she hadn't eaten the mushrooms, and yes she had asked her mother. She then looked to Sparrow for help and Sparrow quirked a brow at her before returning her eyes to the horse woman.

"Neigh, she was in good hands this time. Cute enough to just snatch and gobble up, but it looks like maybe we were lucky there weren't any bears around." She threw the pup a wink before returning her gaze to the woman, waiting for her to say something.

Aurielle Adravendi

Aurielle listened patiently with a subtle glint of exasperated humor in her eye as Kaija scrambled to cover her tail. Having raised five children herself so far, she was familiar with some of the antics of the young, though her own weren’t quite so given to lies or major rule breaking. Aoife was maybe the worst case with leaving pack borders to spend time with Aerie’s Amadeus, which had led to the boy trespassing. Her eyes flicked to Sparrow as the child briefly cut off, momentarily assessing whether the child meant the woman, but deciding that Kaija, though generally fearless, would definitely have been giving some clue if this was the one she’d been afraid of, and she hadn’t been in any distress when she’d arrived. Her head cocked, an almost sly grin blooming on her lips, teeth baring as she asked, “And if I ask your mother directly?” Though in all honesty, Justice would likely not have been too worried unless something truly happened… and then the world would see the woman’s scary side. The question was rhetorical, for the most part, and she bent to examine the mushroom. “It’s a lovely mushroom. If you take it to your Uncle, he may know what it is. Never know, it could end up being medicinal.” She straightened and studied the woman as she spoke, nodding her agreement and adding, “Polar bears can be vicious, but grizzlies are more common of an annoyance and, from my experience… cranky. Very cranky. But they all make good rugs.” A shoulder rolled in memory of some of her encounters as she smiled at the woman. “Thank you for taking the time to escort a wayward pup home. I’m sure her mother has some hide tanning to do. And who do I thank?” A brow arched questioningly at the earthy woman. Oh, she caught the subtle joke there, but left it to one side. Whether she’d address it remained to be seen. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think